Ouran High School Kaneko Club
by Deltoran Merchant
Summary: Posting this back up because it seems like the doujin won't begin production for a little while yet. It's about an assassin for a shadowy organization who seek to put a stop to places of 'excess' as part of purifying mankind. Ouran, being a school for the wealthy, is a primary target so they place their greatest assassin there, a boy named Ichiro Kaneko.
1. Chapter 1 and 2

**Ouran High School Kaneko Club**

**Chapter 1**

"It matters what's on the inside they say," Ichiro Kaneko said to himself as he stood in front of one of the large lavishly decorated windows of Ouran High School's upper floors. He was looking out at the gardens, and the menagerie of rich kids who strolled amongst them. Yet despite having the wealth to attend the prestigious school, he Ichiro didn't consider himself one of them. He even looked the part; a fair face, combed golden blond hair, bright blue eyes and a noticeably athletic build garbed in the light blue jacket and black pants that consisted of the school's uniform. Despite being a fifteen year old first-year student, he looked more like he was eleven. It worked to his advantage though; he found girls had difficulty resisting a wink or a sweet smile from him.

"What I see inside these fools is arrogance, selfishness, and stupidity," he continued, "They're like a tumour. They grow from human society into monstrous growths that strangle it and suffocate it.

"Yet they have no idea what they have in their midst. Their arrogance is blinding, and their selfishness weakening. They won't know what's destroying them until they lay on the ground with their hamstrings cut, and my laughter will be the last thing they hear."

Ichiro grinned darkly as he turned around in the small, spare classroom he was in. "And you my dear," he added, pointing to a girl who was staring at him with a mixture of fear and confusion, "How did you like my performance?"

"O-oh! I-"

"Come now, you didn't truly think I was some sort of nut did you?" Ichiro asked, approaching her, his voice now cheery and friendly, "I was just practicing some acting. I've been considering taking some acting to the side of the rest of my studies. What do you think? Do I perform well?"

"Magnificently," the girl replied, applauding. She was about his age, a first-year student, but she looked more her age than Ichiro did. "You had me worried for a minute."

Ichiro laughed, "My apologies for having scared you like that. And what might such a beautiful young lady's name be?" In spite of himself, Ichiro meant the compliment. The girl was quite pretty, with shoulder-length auburn hair, some of which was neatly braided, and green eyes that seemed to just match. The yellow dress that consisted of the girl's uniform didn't hide too much of her form either. 'But she is one of these wealthy fools,' Ichiro thought, 'Her death is as assured as everyone else's.'

"My name is Akeno Yamada."

"Ichiro Kaneko, a pleasure to meet you Akeno-san," Ichiro said, smiling charmingly. "What brings you to my little practice room?"

They was a pause as Akeno looked him up and down before finally saying "Are you really a student here? You look so young."

Ichiro wasn't sure if he should be offended or complimented. On the one hand his youthful look wasn't exactly unintentional; his father's… company had found a way to retard the aging process on someone pre-pubescent and Ichiro was the only successful test subject. The belief was that the process would greatly extend his life, and Ichiro considered a boyish appearance to be a perfectly acceptable sacrifice. In fact it was beneficial; he found it helped his charm. Yet it did become annoying when it was consistently commented on.

"I am. I just look young," Ichiro said at last, "Yet I believe you didn't answer my question."

"Oh right. I heard a voice coming from this direction and I just went to see who it belonged to."

"Curiosity killed the cat you know," Ichiro replied in a matter-of-factly way. "Yet it is a truly admirable trait in the end. Now that you found my secret hideout and passion for the theatrical, what would you do?"

"I… think I'd like to see more actually."

"Your wish is my command my fair lady," said Ichiro with a bow, "But come, perhaps we would be better off in somewhere less musty. It's quite a beautiful spring day out, and your presence would increase the beauty tenfold." He offered her his hand which she took with a smile on her face. With her in hand he walked out towards the grounds, trying to plan ahead. He took note of nooks and crannies, anything that could be used as hiding places. His operation would require stealth and taking out targets one at a time. It would take a while, and he would need to draw as little attention to himself as possible.

'Any assassin knows that the destruction of a structure requires no more than removing the load bearing supports,' he thought. As such he would have to wait until he could identify which supports to remove. It would have to be just the right ones to send the academy into a panic, and from there the rest would be easy.

When they arrived outside Ichiro led Akeno to a spot near the fountain and gestured to her to take a seat on one of the benches nearby. There were a couple other students nearby, but Ichiro didn't mind the audience. In fact it was all the more people to study. "Now then," he announced, "How should I begin?" After a moment of thought he had an idea. "Fair Akeno-san, I will now perform for you a scene from the famous play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare."

Ichiro took a moment to compose himself and get into character, ironically he was already in character as a cheerful, grandiose fifteen-year old. "To be, or not to be: that is the question," he began, putting as much effort into the performance as possible. "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles."

And so he continued the speech, going on until he finished the part. At this point he took a break and bowed, noticing that a few more girls had appeared to watch, totalling about five. "And now I will perform something… romantic." He turned to Akeno and once again shifted his character and got down on one knee. "Oh my lady, other men said they have seen angels, but I have seen you, and you are enough. Your beauty shines across the ether brighter than a thousand suns would shine across the universe. And yet that cannot begin to describe my feelings for you. They are deeper than the deepest well, and stronger than the mightiest force known.

"The most wonderful of all things in life is the discovery of another human being with whom one's relationship has a growing depth, beauty and joy as the years increase. This inner progressiveness of love between two is a most marvelous thing and cannot be found by seeking or by wishing, but by divine accident. That accident has occurred as I look upon thee, and I would ask you to be mine." He finished and got to his feet, bowing once again to a round of applause.

"Oh my! He's so romantic," one of the girls said.

"That was brilliant Ichiro," Akeno said, "So sweetly said, I felt like you were actually talking to me."

"Me too, and look at that face! Isn't he the cutest guy you've ever seen," the same girl said.

"Oh come now ladies, if you focus on my looks you won't catch the performance. Can I have some suggestions from the audience for what I should do next?"

"Can you be a hero of some kind?" a girl asked.

"Ah, a show of courage is what you seek of me," Ichiro said. He turned to the fountain behind him, with his back to the girls and the next he spoke it was in a strong, commanding voice. "Foul water demon, I know you hide within that fountain, the summons of the Black Magic Club in their quest for total dominion of this school and the suppression of these young ladies. But know this; you will not have them this day. I will protect them with all my strength!" He turned back to the girls and bowed to applause once again.

"You're a natural," one of the girls said, "What about comedy?"

"You want some comedy now do you?" Ichiro asked, "Does everyone else want some comedy as well?"

The reply was a resounding 'yes please'. Once again Ichiro couldn't deny that he was enjoying himself; there was a certain thrill to acting for him. Perhaps it was just the love of manipulating people's emotions, but he couldn't say for sure. Now it was time to perform some comedy. Much to his delight he saw near the doors a group of boys who were comedic gold; the famous Host Club. One tall, dark haired, bespectacled boy with an arrogant look on his face, one lean blond boy, a noticeably tall, black haired boy with enough muscle to be intimidating, a pair of twins with pinkish hair, and an extremely short boy with blond hair who looked like he'd stopped aging at ten. Then there was a brown haired 'boy' who shadowed them and looked like 'he'd' rather be anywhere else.

"Well then ladies, I direct you to the seven clowns at the doors over there," Ichiro said.

"You mean the Host Club?" Akeno asked.

"Yes the Host Club, consisting of the silliest, most dim-witted boys in this entire school," Ichiro announced, tossing a wink to the girls watching, to indicate it was part of the act. "First of all I present the twins!" Ichiro said, then shifted his voice to an impression of theirs "Oh Kaoru, I wish you could have my deformed children through our gross incestuous love affair.

"I feel the same Hikaru, deformed children with a genetic strength flimsier than tissue paper. Then we can tell the mutant all about how stupid, harebrained hijinks can really piss innocent people off." Ichiro paused to take a breath and see how his audience reacted. He really didn't care for the Host Club, in fact they were his prime targets, they exhibited all he hated about the wealthy, but they were also well known so it meant he had to pick a moment to strike when it would receive little coverage.

To the young assassin's surprise, the five girls actually giggled, and none of them left. He guessed that they weren't entirely fond of preening overstuffed peacocks either, or maybe they just had good sense of humour. "I'm glad you like that one ladies, now let's move on to the next shall we? Then I shall direct your attention to, well they appear to have moved, but I'll direct your attention to the Prince of Prissiness Tamaki Suou." Once again Ichiro shifted his voice to an impression, this time of Tamaki, "Oh dear I hope I didn't chip a nail when trying to run over to you beautiful ladies. Your beauty is only outshone by my own, as long as I remember to curl my eyelashes and put on the right amount of make-up. Now has anyone seen my hairnet and my crown?"

"I sound nothing like that!" Tamaki yelled, appearing suddenly in a space in the hedges.

"It seems I've attracted a heckler!" Ichiro cried joyously, "You can save your criticism until _after_ the performance."

"Yeah, don't you know that's rude," one of the girls added.

"Except when ladies do it," Ichiro said.

Naturally Ichiro would much rather have stuck a katara in the idiot's neck, but he had more than enough restraint to avoid that. 'An assassin must have patience. He must lie in wait for months, or even years, before making his move,' Ichiro thought to himself.

Tamaki opened his mouth to say more, or perhaps rant, but Haruhi appeared and dragged him away. "Come on senpai," Haruhi said, "Just ignore the critics."

Going through the Host Club members in his head, Ichiro tried to think of whom to make fun of next. "Now I'm a cold manipulator who pretends the rest of this 'club' are my friends," Ichiro said, affecting an arrogant, sly voice that most listeners could tell was meant to be Kyoya Otori, "But I don't really care about any of them because I'm so high above them all that I could step on them, and I would've done so long ago if they didn't make money for me."

"You really think he's like that?" one of the girls asked.

"Aw come on ladies, I'm only kidding," Ichiro replied.

"Oh it's not that, it's just that I thought I was the only one who thought of the Host Club as being kinda, well, phony."

"I'm not even done yet," said Ichiro. His next impression would be by far the easiest, for him anyways. His youthfulness meant that his voice had, for the most part, remained unchanged from when his growth stopped. "Hi everyone! I'm Honey!" Ichiro cried, surprising even himself with how well he was able to affect the voice, "I'm a supremely talented martial artist, but I'm also a wussy little crybaby who has to have my big stupid cousin look after me. Guess what!? I'm also almost an adult, but I still like getting everyone's attention all to myself! That's why I act like a five year old girl!" He stopped and bowed to applause and laughter from his five audience members.

Ichiro wasn't done yet, and he was keenly aware of both the slight sound of sobbing somewhere, which he could tell was Honey, and the presence of Mori, who was clearly not pleased about Ichiro upsetting his cousin. 'Well then, let's see just how far I can push you Takashi,' Ichiro thought darkly.

"Hey ladies!" Ichiro continued in his Honey voice, "Do you want some cake? I'll probably eat it all 'cause I'm a little pig, but at least I offered right!?"

And so he continued for a few minutes with various jabs at Honey, and he was ignoring Mori's presence entirely, though he knew the boy was becoming quite angry with him. Ichiro was sure it was only a matter of time before he abandoned his passive tactics in favour of an active one, though at the same time it was sort of a race against the clock for Ichiro. This bit on Honey would soon get boring to his audience so he hoped he hoped he could provoke Mori into aggression before that happened.

"And there's that strange love affair with rabbits I have," Ichiro said in his Honey voice, "Or bunnies as I call them. I love them so much I even got a stupid doll that I sleep with even though I'm sevent-" Ichiro paused as what he was hoping to happen finally happened; Mori got angry. It was fast, Mori dashed towards him and tried to punch him or hit him, and Ichiro casually stepped out of the way and caused the older boy to miss, stumble, and fall into the fountain. "Well look at that, some slapstick," he commented to the girls.

"You do such good impressions," one of them said through her laughter, "They're funny too."

"Thanks, though I might have been a bit harsh," Ichiro said, looking at the soaked Mori as he got to his feet, "I know the rest of you are around here! Come on! I was only kidding, I'm sorry."

"You think insulting me is funny?" Tamaki asked angrily, popping out, and almost dragging Haruhi with him. "And you're doing it in front of girls!"

Ichiro tried not to grin as he saw Tamaki's anger quickly begin to change into a breakdown. He'd gotten five girls to laugh at the all famous Host King, and Ichiro was glad to see that Tamaki was so easily rankled. Part of him wanted to keep pushing his buttons, but he wasn't sure he wanted to make too much of a scene. Though Tamaki had launched into some kind of rant about his act being a concentrated attempt to get revenge on him and wanting to know what he'd done, so it was kind of already a scene.

"He wasn't insulting you, he was just exaggerating your personalities," Akeno said, interrupting Tamaki's rant.

"Yeah, I know the twins are just acting and Honey just likes having fun. Lighten up a little," Ichiro added, "I'm not really that great at comedy, and honestly I find it surprising these lovely ladies let me continue my half-baked comedy act for so long. Guess I've just been lucky today; I meet a bunch of beautiful girls, I get to perform, and I just barely avoided getting pummeled by Mori-senpai there."

He gestured to Mori who was still wet and still looking frustrated, though Ichiro was sure there was more going on in his head then was let on.

"Come on guys, don't gentlemen always forgive?" another girl asked Tamaki sweetly.

The blond boy paused for a moment as the girl's feminine charms worked their magic and he regained his composure, "Yes you're right my beautiful young flower," he said, "The Host Club forgives you…"

"Ichiro Kaneko."

"Ichiro-kun, you're forgiven. Just… don't be so mean in the future."

"Sure, sure, I prefer doing drama anyways," replied Ichiro cheerily. He leaned back amongst the girls and wrapped an arm around the waists of two of them, "So ladies, what do you say we go into town and see if we can something exotic to eat."

"How did he do that?" Ichiro heard Tamaki say to one of his fellow members, but he was out of earshot before the reply came.

"What do you have in mind?" Akeno asked as they walked away towards the driveway.

"Fast food," Ichiro said.

"Ooh, how adventurous," one of the girls said sarcastically.

"I prefer to think of it as daring," replied Ichiro with a chuckle.

As they came to the drive he finally took a moment to count how many people he had with him. Counting Akeno there were five, though he didn't actually know who the other four were. "If we're going to be eating together, I should get the rest of your names."

"I'm Chiharu," said a girl with orange-tinted shoulder length blonde hair who seemed to be a little older than himself, perhaps sixteen. "I'm in second year." She was the one who said that fast food would be adventurous.

"Emiko," a girl with neck length golden blonde hair streaked with a number of other bright colours said, Ichiro recognized her as the one who called the Host Club phony. "I'm in first year."

"I'm in third year," a girl with upper back length purplish hair in a number of braids said, and was the one who'd commented on his looks and sweet talked Tamaki into forgiving him, "My name's Hana."

"I… um," the final girl stuttered. She had pink-looking hair that was about the same length as Emiko's though some of it hung over one of her eyes.

"This is Keiko," Emiko said, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders, "She's in first year with me, and she's a bit shy."

"Nice to meet you all," Ichiro said, he had his arms around the waists of Hana and Chiharu as he walked, "And I'm Ichiro Kaneko."

They reached the drive and Ichiro pulled a smartphone from his pocket. He tapped the screen a couple times before coming to a self-made app that would get one of his drivers to bring a designated vehicle to his position as fast as they could. He tapped on a button for a tour bus and pocketed the phone. "There, got a tour bus on its way. I figured it would be quicker if I brought something with a wardrobe built in. We can't go around town in these uniforms now can we?"

"I hate this thing anyways," Emiko said, "I hate wearing dresses."

"Tell me about it," Chiharu agreed, "I prefer simple clothes."

"Did you get sent here to make you into more of a proper lady?" Emiko asked.

"You too?"

Ichiro wasn't really paying attention to the conversation; he was more interested in the fact that Mori had been following him in hiding since he'd left the fountain area. He briefly excused himself from the group and walked around the hedges to stand right behind the older boy. "Why're you following me?" he asked him simply.

Mori didn't seem startled or surprised, but he did turn around a bit quicker than someone who knew their discovery was coming. "Who are you really?" he asked in return, standing up.

"Ichiro Kaneko," Ichiro replied simply.

"Back at the fountain, you avoided my attack. Some of the best soldiers and police would have trouble avoiding that."

"I got lucky."

"That wasn't luck," Mori stated simply, "The way you moved was confident and purposeful, not casual. You knew I was coming. How can you possess such great reflexes?"

"Because the Morinozukas and Haninozukas believe themselves to be the greatest in the martial arts," Ichiro replied mockingly, "There are many techniques beyond your comprehension Takashi, and even beyond those of Mitsukuni."

"Who are you?" Mori asked again.

"I'm whoever you want to think I am. I can't change that. I'm like a shadow in the flickering light, or a cloud drifting through the sky. I am what I am, but you're free to view me as you please," Ichiro replied cryptically. "I'll tell you one secret though," he added, gesturing Mori to bend down to him.

The older boy was surprised when Ichiro abruptly kissed him right on the mouth. It lasted only a second, but the shock and confusion on Mori's face made Ichiro grin with sick delight. "Oh and one more thing Takashi," Ichiro added as he turned to leave, "If you speak of any of this to anyone, including Mitsukuni… well, let's just say bad things will happen to both your families."

Ichiro returned to the girls just as the bus arrived, feeling considerably jollier now. He decided that these Host Club clowns could be a lot of fun to play with first. And with one of them suspicious of him, it made things all the more exciting. 'After all, all the fun is always in the chase, not the catch. And those imbeciles will be a great chase.' With that thought he got on the sleek, white and blue bus and joined in conversation with the girls.

The interior of the bus was somewhat similar to a living room, with clean white carpet on the floor and a pair of couches positioned opposite each other. At the back was a door to a fairly sizable wardrobe which each of the girls took a moment to go into.

Akeno came out wearing a dark purple skirt and sweater vest over a lighter purple short-sleeved blouse. Chiharu came out wearing light orange Bermuda shorts and a white tank top. Emiko opted for baggy cargo shorts and a graphic t-shirt that made her look almost like a boy, while Hana was quite opposite with a white jersey dress with purple trim. Finally Keiko took a rather simple yellow sun dress.

"Why exactly do we have so many girls' clothes anyways?" Ichiro asked his driver, mystified.

"I honestly have no idea sir. The clothes are changed daily, perhaps today was just lucky."

Ichiro shrugged and went into the back, coming out with a pair of black shorts and a black t-shirt with a thin silver chain necklace around his neck, and a somewhat large silver watch on his wrist. "All black, how dark and mysterious," Hana commented.

"That's the idea," Ichiro replied.

"It makes you positively gorgeous darling."

"I wasn't before?" replied Ichiro flirtatiously, sitting down next to the girl.

"Now you know that's not what I meant sweetie," Hana said, "Any boy with such a sweet face would be gorgeous no matter what he wore."

"You know gorgeous, these lips can be magical."

"Come on you two, not in front of the rest of us," Chiharu said.

Ichiro smirked and kissed Hana in response, letting it last a notable amount of time before separating from her and sat there with a smirk still on his face and leaving Hana looking both pleased and surprised. "Nah, it's easier to just kiss when you can," Ichiro said, "As long as you're in private."

"You do look good in black though," Chiharu replied.

"Thank you."

"So where exactly are we going?" Akeno asked.

"Well," Ichiro began, leaning back on the couch with his arms spread out along the top, "I said fast food. But where would the fun be if I gave away everything?"

"It'd make things more predictable," answered Akeno.

"And there's no fun in that. I will say that I was thinking of something American."

"So you mean burgers?" Emiko asked hopefully.

"Perhaps I do," replied Ichiro simply, "You know I was thinking of something. We all seem like we make a good group, would you ladies agree?"

"I guess so," Akeno replied, and the rest of the girls muttered similar agreement.

"Then perhaps we should form a club of our own. Perhaps that could help in… giving the Host Club a little competition at times."

"That's a little ambitious," replied Akeno, "The Host Club may be a bunch of clowns, but they're extremely popular with the girls at Ouran. And as an accountant they have Kyoya-san."

"We have me," countered Ichiro simply, "As the song says, anything they can do I can do better."

"Isn't that a bit… arrogant?" Chiharu asked.

"Speaking the truth of oneself can sound as such if it's true. I can produce my math scores if you doubt my ability to calculate as well as Kyoya. And don't tell me that none of you think I'm cuter than Mitsukuni," explained Ichiro, putting on the sweetest face he could muster.

"You do have a point there sweetie," Hana said, lightly pinching his cheek, "You're a pretty good kisser too."

"Thank you. I can do anything the clowns can do, and I can do it better," Ichiro repeated, "Well except a creepy incestuous gay love, but we don't need that anyways."

"Well I'm in," Emiko said, "I'm not passing up a chance to stick it those idiots, and if anyone can do it I'm sure it's Ichiro here. He's the only other boy in the school who looks as young as Honey-senpai, and that was only ever the real obstacle."

"Five girls and one boy versus seven boys," Chiharu said, "Sure, count me in. Sounds like it could be fun."

"Actually six boys and one girl; Haruhi is a sheep in wolf's clothes… or a girl in boy's clothes," Ichiro corrected.

"I thought so!" Akeno cried, "Oh yeah, and if you really think we can make it work then I'm in too."

"Keiko? What about you? Would you like to join in the fun?" Ichiro asked. He was surprised she'd been able to keep quiet the whole time. She'd just sat on the couch and looked out the window beside her. They were well into the city now, and Ichiro could see their destination; a McDonald's.

"McDonald's? Are we allowed to mention that?" Ichiro's driver asked.

"Sure," Ichiro said with a shrug.

"Gee, I haven't been to McDonalds since I was little," said Chiharu as the bus pulled into the parking lot.

"Heh, dad would flip if he knew I was eating here," Emiko commented.

The group hopped off the bus and headed towards the building, but Ichiro held back for a moment to grab something from the bus' glove compartment that he quickly pocketed. When he stepped off the bus, Akeno was waiting for him. "What were you getting?" she asked.

"Flash drive," Ichiro replied, holding up the sleek plastic gadget, "It has some of my homework in it, and I don't trust it to be anywhere except on my person."

"You took that bus to school this morning?"

"Yes. Hey you guys go in ahead of me; I want to just walk around the block quickly. You know, stretch my legs," Ichiro said.

"Yeah, okay."

Akeno walked on ahead while Ichiro walked off down the sidewalk. He wasn't entirely lying; he did want to have a walk around to exercise, as well as a little parkour. There was an ulterior motive though; he was hoping he might catch a crime of some kind in progress. He hated criminals and rich people; in fact he considered them one and the same. And they all deserved the same fate: death. But with his focus on the Ouran students he hadn't had the time to hunt down criminals for several weeks now and he was itching for a fight.

Ichiro was pleased when he saw just what he was waiting for; a man took the plastic cup that a homeless man was holding out for money. It wasn't a violent theft or anything, the homeless man simply looked away for a moment and the thief, a man in his late thirties with black hair and a blue jacket, took the cup. He thought nobody was looking. 'He was wrong,' Ichiro thought darkly. He used his phone to take a picture of the man before he got out of sight.

"Search for place of resident of central subject," he muttered quietly towards the device, "And bring up any relevant information."

After a few seconds of searching the phone presented him with an address, directions from his current position, and a list of personal details. "Former police officer, laid off for consistent abuse of position, and was briefly jailed for a number of small-time thefts," Ichiro read quietly, "Seems like he never learned his lesson."

He quickly read over the directions and moved off in that direction. It was still mostly light out, so he couldn't take to the rooftops or use any real shortcuts. This would have to be done differently. 'That's okay, I have plenty of ways of killing scum without being seen,' he thought. And luckily for him the man, Li something, didn't live too far away. He'd be able to get this done and be back at the restaurant quick enough to claim he was just walking.

A few street crossings and turns later he stood outside an apartment building that, wasn't one of the worst Ichiro had ever seen, but definitely far from being high quality. There was a fire escape, which could be helpful, but he chose to simply walk in through the front door. Of course the door immediately inside was locked, but he had a plan for that. It didn't seem that Li had made it home quite yet, but according to his information it seemed the man usually was home at around this time.

He had a solution for locks too. Ichiro pulled what seemed to be a pen from his pocket. He pulled half of the plastic casing off to show a flat piece of metal. It was a lock manipulator, made from a malleable, programmable metal that changed shape through subtle manipulations of the casing. It was designed as an improved lockpick, able to mimic the exact shape of the key, and when paired with a smart-scanner like the one Ichiro had disguised as a phone, it let the user go basically anywhere.

Ichiro had his scanner scan and bring up a digitized view of the lock's interior to help him work. It was a pretty simple lock really, and a couple minutes later he turned the manipulator in the lock as easily as a key. Then he moved quickly up the stairs to the appropriate apartment and repeated the procedure, easily slipping inside and locking the door again behind him. "Too cheap to install door chains, man this is easy," he said to himself and looking around the dim apartment.

It was a simple place, one main room with a couch, television and basic kitchen, and a small bedroom and bathroom branching off. The floor was just wood-style linoleum that was curling up in some spots, and the paint on the walls was flaking off. It wasn't so bad really, but after the lavish interiors of Ouran High School and his bus it looked like a dump. "This is what the wealthy force the poor souls they exploit to live in. They motivate some to become just as vile," Ichiro muttered, walking off into the bedroom where he dropped down beside the bed, hidden from view from the door, and waited, "But when the lost become the vile, they must be culled, or else civilization becomes overtaken by the trash."

A dark smile spread across Ichiro's face as he contemplated all this. The sole reason for his existence was to purify humanity. The Champion of Shadows, he would build the future with the blood of the guilty. "Ichiro the Eternal," he mused to himself, "I like that. I will be youthful forever and the future I build will be maintained by me. The people will know that I'm the one who guards them from cancerous growths of the rich and the decaying filth of the criminal.

"And the club with those girls will be where I start. The Kaneko Club, that's a perfect name. People will look back to it as their hero's starting point. In my humility I will inform them that it's merely a name, the actions of all the members helped build my future. The Host Club will be crushed, and with it the futures of all the families involved."

Ichiro fell silent, envisioning all he had planned. It was so perfect, the world would become so much better thanks to him. They'd all worship him as their saviour and protector, and there would be no crime or exploitation. It would be the perfect balance of being independent and helping others.

His daydreams were cut short when his trained ears picked up the sound of footsteps outside the apartment, followed by the sound of a key being put into the lock. Ichiro moved his position a bit more so he could strike. He raised his wrist and twisted a knob on his watch as he prepared. Then the door opened and Li stepped through and Ichiro pressed a small button on his watch that caused a small metal dart fly out of it and right into Li's leg.

The man cried out in pain and looked down to see the small, pin-sized dart sticking out of his leg. Ichiro watched with delight as the man's next few steps became more difficult due to a paralyzing agent in the dart. He managed to stumble to the couch before the toxin took complete hold, but he was looking around suspiciously. "Wondering where that came from?" Ichiro asked, emerging from hiding.

"Who the hell are you!? How'd you get into my apartment!?" Li cried angrily.

"I'm the reaper," replied Ichiro calmly, but with the menace dripping in his voice. He pulled the flash drive from his pocket and removed the cap to show a pointed tip which he slid out into a knife. "I saw you steal money from a homeless man. It seems prison taught you nothing."

"Woah! Easy kid," Li said desperately as Ichiro closed the distance, "I was just… here, take it back! Just don't hurt me." Li took the money from his pocket and held it out.

"You'll steal again if I let you go. You're a criminal, and there's no place for criminals in my future," Ichiro said.

In a display of blinding speed, the young assassin dashed forwards and brought the knife slicing through the man's throat. Ichiro took a deep breath as the thrill of the act went through him. His knife had severed the man's trachea, and he still wore a shocked expression as he died. Another criminal was dead, and with him the world was a little bit cleaner.

Using a cloth in the bathroom he wiped away any blood that had splashed on him, then pulled out his smart-scanner. "Scanner, send a message to Shadow Base for a cremator to be deployed to this position."

With that done Ichiro left the apartment and made sure to lock the door behind him. It would delay anyone finding the body before a cremator made it there, and once that job was finished there would be no body to find. He was sure he'd done a good job, but there was something at the back of his mind that nagged him. It was something that made him feel like he should be sad in some way. It happened every time he killed someone, and he couldn't figure out why. Like always he just crushed the feeling down and cheerfully headed back towards the restaurant, and made sure to return the stolen money as well.

He moved quickly and arrived back at the time he'd projected, being late by perhaps a few seconds. It didn't take him long to spot the table where the girls were sitting, already eating burgers. "Hey ladies," he said, sliding into place next to Hana.

"There you are Ichiro-chan," Hana said, "You know this food is extremely greasy and I know my parents would have my head if they knew I was eating here, but I love it!"

"Yeah, great idea to come here Ichiro," Emiko added.

"Speaking of parents, will you be able to bring us home Ichiro-chan?" Chiharu asked.

"Of course, anything for angels of loveliness."

Ichiro quickly got up to get himself food and returned to the table with a new topic in mind. "By the way I thought of a name for our club."

"Anti-host Club?" Akeno asked.

"No, something more obvious: Kaneko Club."

"You mean… you're naming it after yourself?" Emiko asked.

"Of course, it was my idea after all."

"That may be, but can't you acknowledge us in some way?" Akeno asked.

"Akeno-chan, how can you say no to this face?" Hana asked, gently holding Ichiro's head in her hands.

"Is a cute face really all it takes for you?" Emiko asked, "You're adorable Ichiro, don't get me wrong, but your name choice seems a little… egotistical."

"Okay then," Ichiro said, feeling dejected, "How about Kanekco? With a 'co' at the end for company."

"But sweetie, that still sounds the same," Hana pointed out.

"But it doesn't write the same, so it still acknowledges my babes."

"What about the Kaneko Girls Club?" Chiharu suggested.

"But then it sounds like it's just for girls," Ichiro protested.

"If it's just your last name then it sounds like it's just about you," Akeno argued.

"What about those companies? They sometimes have the names of their founders in them."

Ichiro wasn't used to this; usually he was able to get his way easily. He could force it if he wanted to, but for some reason he wanted these girls to agree with him on their own terms. He wanted them to keep liking him. It made no sense to his mind; people didn't have to like each other, as long as they performed their role properly. But he liked these girls, and he didn't want to upset them. "Please girls," he begged; he couldn't think of anything else that worked for the club's name, so this was the only option he had, "I'll make sure signs and stuff make it clear that the 'co' means you."

"Oh… alright sweetie," Hana replied. "Just make sure you give us credit."

"I will, promise," Ichiro said happily, "Does that work for everyone else?"

"Sure," said Akeno after a long pause, with Emiko and Chiharu adding their agreement as well. The only one who didn't say anything, and hadn't said anything for a long time, was Keiko.

"Why doesn't she talk?" Ichiro asked.

"Um… what was that thing called Keiko?" Emiko asked. Keiko leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Oh right, she has selective mutism."

"Really?"

"Yup, anytime she's in a situation where she's expected talk."

"That's easy to fix," said Ichiro, getting to his feet. They'd all finished eating by now; the talking had taken up more time. "Come on Keiko let's go to the bus."

Keiko looked more like he'd asked her to walk a tightrope across the Grand Canyon, but she followed him anyways while the other girls cleaned up. They were only a short distance across the darkening parking lot when a pair of rather rough looking guys approached them. "Hey kid, nice looking bitch you got there," one of them asked, not sounding particularly sober, "Mind if we… borrow her for the night."

"Of all the clichéd events that could happen," Ichiro muttered to himself, "No you big idiots, you can't 'borrow' her."

"What the hell did you call me?" the man asked, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him up.

"What're you deaf? I said you're a big idiot. Same with your friend who's trying to manhandle my girl over there," Ichiro replied cheekily, and pointing to the man's companion who was roughly grabbing hold of Keiko, "I'll be with you in a second by the way Keiko."

"You cheeky little punk!"

"You great big lunkhead," Ichiro replied.

The man reared back his fist, but before he could even begin bring it down, Ichiro lifted his legs and kicked him in the gut and expertly back flipping through the air to land on his feet. He whirled to the man who held Keiko and struck with a flurry of martial arts moves, combining practices and techniques into extremely effective combinations that ended with him planting a solid kick in the man's back, making him collapse into unconsciousness, though by that point the man had already let go of Keiko.

Ichiro turned his attention back to the other man who had been quite winded by the kick, and was just beginning to regain his senses. Before that could happen Ichiro had let loose with his lightning fast strikes and flips and the end result was the man joining his companion on the pavement with Ichiro standing over him smugly. "Be glad we're in public," he said quietly, kneeling down, "This could've gotten a lot worse for you."

"Holy- jeez- Ichiro!" Emiko cried with surprise, "That was- how did- awesome!"

"Thanks babe."

"Where'd you learn that? How'd you learn that?"

"Practice," Ichiro replied simply, crossing the rest of the parking lot with them and boarding his bus.

"I just had a great idea," said Chiharu, "What if we hold a fight between Ichiro and Mitsukuni-san and have people bet on who'll win."

"Oh I see," joined in Emiko, "Everyone will expect Honey-senpai to win so they'll all bet on him, then when our little Ichiro kicks his ass we'll get the profits!"

"Exactly."

"I'm not doing that," said Ichiro, "I like keeping my fighting skills kinda secret."

"Are you sure? We'd get to humiliate the Host Club, _and_ take their money. You know that would hit where it hurts," Emiko reasoned.

"While I don't object to the idea in theory, I have to wonder if it would work in practice," Ichiro explained, "While most people would think I'm just stupid, I think Kyoya might figure it out, or at least suspect enough that he wouldn't put any bets. And that's assuming he's a gambling man."

"He's right, anyone willing to challenge Mitsukuni-san outright would have to be either foolish or skilled, and since the Haninozukas and Mitsukuni are well known amongst the upper-class here in Japan, none of us are going to challenge him without background knowledge. Thus the ultimate conclusion is that Ichiro has some kind of talent or trick that is unknown," Akeno added.

"Spoil sports," Emiko pouted.

"Thank you," said the quiet voice of Keiko. It was so unfamiliar that Ichiro had to double check to see who it had come from.

"Keiko?" Ichiro asked with surprise.

"Thank you for saving me," she said, "And yes I'll be in the club and I like the name."

"Then Ouran High School Kanekco Club it is," Ichiro said cheerily, "Driver! Take my ladies home!"


	2. Chapter 3

**Arc 1**

**Chapter 3**

Several hours later all the girls had been returned to their school year homes, which were thankfully quite close. It seemed that their parents had gotten a similar idea to Ichiro's own father, which was the acquisition and renovation of an entire apartment building, with the interiors refashioned into lavish rooms that made it seem more like a vertical mansion of stacked penthouses. However Ichiro highly doubted that any of them were as well fortified as the Kaneko Penthouse.

As he and his chauffeur headed for home, Ichiro had fallen silent. Though this was typical when on his own, a habit picked up from years of waiting quietly for targets, it was unusual for him to not occasionally speak to himself or his servants. He was lost in thought.

Something had happened that night that he'd never had happen before; he liked people. Rich people no less. That had never happened to him before. And by all his training, it wasn't supposed to happen. It was okay to feel sorry for the common citizens, but he was told to remember that he was above the rest of humanity, and liking anyone outside the Society was the first step towards being pulled down.

'I don't feel like I'm being pulled down. I kind of enjoy having those girls around, but I shouldn't. I don't understand it,' he thought.

The swarm of such thoughts and confusion felt like they swirled through his head in an endless replay. It was frustrating to say the least and it made him want to yell. He liked people and that was wrong, but it didn't feel bad to like them. Not to mention his resorting to begging to get the club name he wanted. It wasn't that he hadn't done that before, but those other times it was acting. 'I'm not sure if I was acting this time,' he thought, 'But that shouldn't be possible, I'm above that kind of petty behaviour.'

"You seem quiet master," his chauffeur said, "Is something troubling you?"

Ichiro sighed, "Perhaps Kousei. I'm feeling… emotions that I shouldn't be."

"What kind of emotions?"

"It's difficult to explain, but I believe I can handle it."

"Would you like to speak to a re-education associate?"

"How dare you," Ichiro spat, feeling his temper rise; "You suggest that I, the greatest of the Society's frumentarii, require re-education? I can handle my incorrect emotions perfectly fine."

"My apologies sir, I merely thought you could use some additional guidance."

"You will learn to keep such opinions to yourself Kousei," Ichiro replied, "Or else you will be removed from my service, and it will be _you_ who will have to be re-educated."

"I'm sorry sir, it was simply a lapse of judgment sir," Kousei said meekly. Ichiro's wrath was something to be feared, so it was something all his servants would prefer to avoid.

A short time later the bus pulled into a parking garage underneath a walled off apartment complex, similar to the ones each of the girls lived in. Ichiro was still fuming over the suggestion of re-education. It was the process of having to correct the thoughts of members who had incorrect thoughts or unnecessary emotions. To have to enter re-education was shameful, it meant the person might have to lose ranking for a time, until they could get their thoughts in order. 'I am the perfection sought by the Society; eternal, strong and controlled. There's something more to this, I know it.'

He boarded the elevator from the garage while a butler pushed the button for the level of the building that his room was on. "I assume you will be going hunting tonight, sir?"

"Yes, I think that will be good. A nice way to clear my head," Ichiro replied. "Meanwhile I would like as much information as can be found on the Ouran Host Club and its members. I want to see if there're any weaknesses I can exploit."

"Yes sir."

The elevator stopped on one of the upper most floors and Ichiro got out and immediately headed down the carpeted hallway to the door to his room. He went inside and threw himself onto his large bed. He was exhausted, these 'emotions' he was feeling were tiresome. But he always enjoyed criminal hunting, so he had something to look forward to. All he needed were a couple moments of rest before he changed into full gear.

Ichiro's room was large, but simple. It consisted solely of his bed, a desk and computer, and his dresser. The bulk of the room was an open space, with carpeting like the hall, serving the purpose of sound absorption. The open space additionally had a large gymnastic mat that Ichiro used for practicing his gymnastics and martial arts, or at least to get warmed-up. Complete training sessions were every other day in a proper gym located on the ground floor. There was also a bathroom attached to his bedroom so he could have absolute privacy when he so desired.

He got up from his bed and walked over to his dresser, which was a long table with three rows and six columns of drawers, consisting of various clothes from the common to the outlandish. Each outfit had specific uses, from appearing casual to criminal disguises and even a few girls' clothes in case cross-dressing was necessary. Though in all his five years as a frumentarii he'd never yet found a situation where he had needed to do that.

However his interest at the moment was a hidden drawer below the bottom row and sitting almost on the floor. It used a genetic print lock and only opened for him. Inside, resting on a cushion was a pair of katars. They were expertly crafted, with a hilt and grip made of titanite, a silver-coloured metal with similarities to stainless steel, though considerably harder and stronger. They were coloured black, while the blade, also made of titanite, kept its natural colour but was inlaid with a pair of black onyx stones near the hilt. Further up the blade was a symbol showing a dagger down the middle of an 'omega' symbol.

Ichiro gripped the handles of the katars firmly. They were the Fangs of Shadow, specially crafted just for him, and when he held them it seemed like any weakness in his being was eradicated. He was an assassin, a frumentarii, and holding his chosen weapons helped remind him of that. "Oh what's that Mitsukuni? You're the martial arts champion of Japan and you want a bunny?" he asked mockingly into the air. He violently stabbed the position with the katars, "How about I shred that stupid rabbit apart and, before I carve out your heart, I'll show you that the greatest fighter on this planet is me."

He imagined using his weapons to slice apart the stuffed rabbit that Mitsukuni always carried with him. 'Such stupidity, such childishness, to be attached to a collection of felt and foam,' thought Ichiro bitterly. "It doesn't make you cute, it makes you idiotic," he said aloud. "Attachment to stupid toys should be destroyed as soon as possible. At seventeen one should be focused on using their skills to better the world, not trying to pretend they're ten years younger."

This hatred for the Haninozuka boy wasn't new. Ichiro had heard of the family since he began Information Attainment Alpha when he was young. In fact one of the groups of fighters that the Society made a point of making sure their youths surpassed was the Haninozuka family. As the Legate, the Emperor's chosen champion, Ichiro had no doubt he could best Mitsukuni in combat. But there was something else about the boy that made his blood boil.

"It's not something else, no, it's everything else; his sickeningly cheerful attitude, his obsession with being cute, all the undeserved attention for his 'skill'. I hate everything about that runt," Ichiro spat, "I will have so much fun when it comes time to kill him."

That wasn't a concern now though. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, then exited his room and took the elevator down to his armoury. It was time to get ready for his hunt.

When he arrived at the armoury he looked around the military bunker type room. It was small, with a number of tightly sealed cabinets and drawers, all operated by a computer set in the middle of the room. Ichiro quickly used the computer to unlock the containers and proceeded to strip down to his boxer-briefs. There was a specific outfit he wore for active missions and hunts, and as it was skin-tight he needed to be essentially nude.

First he donned the main part of the outfit; a form-fitting black jumpsuit made of kevlex, a sort of Kevlar-spandex weave that was form-fitting for maximum mobility and agility, but tough enough to protect its wearer from bullets. It covered all of his body, with a separate balaclava-type hood that covered all of his head, save his face.

Next he donned the padded armour, which included small spaulders, a chestplate with an extension in the middle that covered his stomach and pads over his thigh. Each consisted of additional layers of kevlex around hardened core, creating additional protection and remaining form-fitting and promoting flexibility and mobility. His chest plate had a little extra to ensure the protection of his vitals. The straps used to secure the plates served as armour themselves. All of them were loose when donned, but once fully strapped around his body they tightened up against him, looking almost like they were part of the first layer.

Ichiro stopped here for a second to throw a few punches and jabs, as well as perform a few acrobatic maneuvers. As always the armour performed magnificently and felt more like a second skin than any kind of weight or hindrance. "Ah, the casting off of the false schoolboy persona and taking on my true form. It is always a thrill," he said theatrically.

Finally he briefly lowered his hood to strap in a rebreather that covered his nose and mouth and was sleek in design and almost as form fitting as the rest of his outfit, though thicker. It had hundreds of microscopic pores and was designed to help muffle his breathing and filter the air. Like the rest of his outfit, Ichiro could easily forget he had it on. The same held true with the visor he placed over his eyes, which provided enhanced night-vision and was secured tightly around his head. Once both were in position he raised his hood, leaving his face almost completely obscured.

The very final parts of his outfit were his belt, which held magnetically-sealed compartments with various gadgets, hardened kevlex vambraces and similar style boots, with shock absorption properties and microscopic 'hairs' to allow the scaling of walls. After stocking his belt and sheathing his katars he was ready to hunt.

Leaving his home without being seen was a relatively easy affair. Using his computer he opened a panel in the armoury wall that, when he walked on it, revealed itself as an elevator that quickly carried him down into the Society's secret tunnels. From these tunnels he could move across the city undetected, though they were pitch black with minimal light. It made the night-vision goggles mandatory. As for interference with the subway system… the tunnels were constructed first and members of the Society made sure nobody ever found out.

Ichiro's method for choosing where to surface and begin his hunt was to select a random surfacing point each night and then work out from there, using his scanner and his eyes to search for targets. The place he surfaced tonight seemed to be near a residential area. He was disappointed with this spot, because he doubted there would be much crime going on in this area. For a moment he considered returning to the tunnels, the entrance and exit of which was another hidden elevator hidden in the pavement of an alley. It only responded to a smartscanner, so to most people it was just concrete.

He scaled the closest wall and rolled onto the roof, where he realized he wasn't just in any residential area, but the one where Haruhi lived. Ichiro had made a point of scouting out the homes of the Host Club members when he'd begun his time at Ouran Academy, and knew each location by heart. 'Maybe I really should return to the tunnels,' he thought, 'There won't be any crime here.'

Ichiro lingered for a time, before leaping across the rooftops, or occasionally through the trees, in search of prey. He had a grappling gun which he occasionally used as well. 'Not even a Yakuza deal going down,' he thought as he checked his smartscanner on a rooftop. 'Not even a mugging. No rich fools out alone either.'

He was just beginning to consider returning to the tunnels when his scanner finally caught something. It was a moving target near the edge of the sector he was in. The information he got said it seemed to match the profile of a Yakuza thug, with a decent pay no less. That probably meant he was committed to his job. Not that it really mattered as far as Ichiro was concerned; a crime was a crime and the punishment was the same.

With the swiftness and silence of a ninja he made his way towards the target. The grappling gun helped a lot, it used pressurized gas to fire, was silenced, and the grappling hook itself was sharp and magnetic and could maintain a strong grip on any location, and computer guidance helped make sure it got a good grip. It certainly made crossing large distances easier.

He finally spotted the man about five minutes later. Ichiro stood atop a two-story apartment building and saw the man, who looked to be in his thirties and wearing a black suit, walking along with a briefcase. It seemed like he was someone coming home from a late night at the office, but Ichiro's scanner was never wrong. It was showing the contents of the briefcase to be a number of weapons, mostly knives and a pistol. Now this was what he'd been waiting for.

While he had a good position to pounce from, he wasn't quite ready to act. Ichiro wanted to follow the man first and enjoy the thrill of the hunt. He hopped across the roofs, occasionally dropping onto the ground, as he followed the man's path. His name was Izo, according to the scan, and he was definitely a Yakuza thug. Directly scanning him confirmed this. But Ichiro was enjoying stalking the man, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And he hadn't reached that moment yet.

However it had reached the point where he was willing to begin toying with the man. He could see that Izo had a cellphone on him, and it wasn't hard to scan his number, and once Ichiro had done that he sent a text message to him saying: _I can see you_.

Ichiro waited for a moment from his perch and saw Izo take his phone out of his pocket. As Ichiro expected a random text message wasn't enough to rattle his prey, as he saw Izo quickly delete the message. The first message wasn't going to make him become scared. It would plant a seed of discomfort. And of course he wasn't done yet. His contact code was scrambled, and wouldn't be recognized by a phone anyways, unless he chose it to be. It was the most entertaining aspect of a hunt; being able to manipulate his prey into terror. So he sent another message saying: _It wasn't junk mail. I can see you._

Once again Izo stopped to check the message, and this time frowned a little, but still dismissed it. Ichiro caught him throw a casual glance over his shoulder before he continued walking. _I know who you are_, Ichiro texted. _I can see you Yakuza. Would you like to play?_

This time Izo seemed a little more rattled. It could've been his mention of the man's occupation, or the taunt, but Ichiro saw Izo actually stop and look around. He seemed nervous, but not frightened. "Hello?" the man called.

'I'm getting to you am I?' Ichiro thought gleefully.

As his form of response he drew a shuriken from one of his belt's compartments and threw it so it arced through the air and landed at Izo's feet, just inches from the tip of his shoes. He had his shuriken coloured black, so there was no way that Izo could've seen where it was during its second-long flight.

Ichiro watched as the man looked down at the shuriken then looked around wildly at his surroundings, before briskly continuing his walk. _There is no escape from me,_ Ichiro texted. Izo looked at his phone while continuing his brisk walk. The fear was taking hold now; he knew he was being stalked, and Ichiro just had to follow and wait until his prey thought safety was in reach.

The safety in question turned out to be, rather surprisingly to Ichiro, the same building Haruhi lived in. He thought for sure a committed Yakuza thug would opt for something a bit more upmarket. It didn't matter; it would be the last time Izo would ever see the place.

Just as Izo was nearing the door to his apartment, Ichiro sprang from his perch on the roof. He rolled in midair and plunged into Izo's body with his feet, kicking the man square in the chest and sending him sprawling. Ichiro back-flipped onto his feet and wrapped one hand around the man's throat, while firing his grappling gun with the other hand, lifting Izo with him as he quickly returned to the roof.

Once there Ichiro threw the thug into the floor and placed his foot on the man's chest. "I told you I could see you," Ichiro said quietly, the rebreather warping his voice.

"You're so short," was Izo's immediate response.

"And you only have one hand."

"What?" Izo asked, only to have his mouth quickly muffled with Ichiro's foot while the young assassin used one of his katars to slice off one of the man's hands.

The thug tried to scream in pain, but Ichiro's boot kept him silent. "Now," Ichiro began, moving his foot back to Izo's chest, "I'm trying to decide if I should just kill you, or see if I can get some questions about your boss answered first."

"Why would… I tell you anything?" Izo asked, gasping for breath.

"Because you'll live longer. I might even let you live."

"You wouldn't kill me would you?"

"I just cut off your hand, so yes I would, now talk! Tell me what you know about your boss!"

"His name's Hironori Kakashi, now please don't kill me!"

"Tell me more," Ichiro pressed, pushing down on Izo's chest, "When were you to next see him? Do you know any missions he might be personally overseeing?"

"I- uh- he was going to be meeting with one of those Mafia bosses from America, I was gonna be a guard. It's at this classy house; I got the address and date in a locked part of my phone."

"Convenient," Ichiro said, taking the man's phone from his pocket, "What's the password?"

"Aren't you some kinda cyborg? Can't you just do it yourself?"

"I could, but it's much more fun to squeeze it out of scum like you," Ichiro said, moving his other foot to be on top of one of Izo's forearms. He proceeded to press down hard until a sickening crunch indicated bones had been broken.

Ichiro quickly moved the foot on Izo's chest back to his mouth and added, "If you scream, I'll kill you instantly. Now tell me your password. Who knows, it might save your life."

Izo coughed when Ichiro removed his foot and gasped for a moment before spluttering out, "My password is two-five-one-one-one-two-one-two-six-one."

"Anything else?" Ichiro asked.

"I- I heard a ru-rumour about a special guest who might be present. And that's all I know."

"Good, then I can stop dirtying my boot with you," Ichiro said, drawing his other katar, "You've been quite helpful Izo."

"Wh-what!? You said you'd let me go!"

"No, I said I _might_ let you go. I'm deciding that I don't want the vermin to continue running around."

Before Izo could even begin to struggle to his feet, Ichiro plunged a katar through the man's heart and used the other to cut through his throat. Beneath his mask he grinned with delight as the game came to its end. It was the intoxicating feeling of power, the evidence that he held the power to end someone's life in the blink of an eye. He loved that feeling. And since he had his full gear he could clean up the body himself.

The method for doing that was a sort of grenade, which he stuffed into his target's corpse after quickly examining it for anything important. Instead of exploding as one would expect though, it instead emitted a cloud of greenish gas, an airborne acid, that swiftly dissolved away the body, his clothes and anything he still had in his pockets. Though Ichiro's armour was immune to the acid's effects, he did have some open spots of skin that weren't. The acid was designed to be strong, but to also quickly degrade into base components on contact with air.

So after a few minutes there was nothing left of the cloud of acid except basic gases that were lost in the wind. After that he strolled forwards to grab the grenade, which remained intact, and returned it to his belt. Nobody would know the guy was gone, and Ichiro had gotten plenty of information for his trouble. 'That was fun,' he thought, trying to ignore that nagging in the back of his mind, 'I'd best head back for home. I have school tomorrow after all,' he thought. 'Tomorrow I get a close-up of the Host Club.


	3. Chapter 4

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 1**

Ichiro could sleep through class. He didn't because he knew that could be a nice way to get kicked out, but he wanted to. After ten years of Information Attainment, and a genetically enhanced mind, he could breeze through his school work in minutes. He actually held back just so that he would have something to do. Even without trying he managed to rank near the top of every class. Not the absolute top, since he didn't want to stand out too much, but close enough.

So when classes ended for the day he was thrilled to finally be able to really stretch his legs and to not sit around listening to and writing things he already knew. His goal for today was to meet the Host Club properly, and what better way than to visit them personally? The only problem is he really needed girls with him, and thanks to the Kaneko Club he had solved that problem; so he texted the girls to meet him in the class where Akeno had met him the day before.

When he had put away his things and made his way down to the classroom himself, he found it empty. It seemed the classroom in question was as underused as music room three. If that was the case then Ichiro was definitely considering making it the club's permanent meeting spot. Though he still had to think of other things they could do besides humiliate the Host Club. "Or perhaps other ways to humiliate them while doing something else," Ichiro said to himself, leaning back in one of the chairs and putting his feet on its desk. "Hey Emiko," he added, not even looking up.

"You're good," the rainbow-haired girl said as she entered the classroom, "So why'd you call us all here?"

"Wait until everyone gets here first."

"Oh come on, I can't wait that long."

"You can and you will," Ichiro replied, "You can help me come up with ideas for what else our club can do besides humiliate the Host Club."

"What about a fight club? We pit you against challengers and have people bet on who'll win."

"Not that again," Ichiro groaned, "I'm not fighting for show, and besides that's a bit low-brow for a club at this school."

"Oh just because we're rich we have to prefer sitting around filing our nails and talking about wine to actually having fun?"

"No, but we do have to avoid doing things that border on illegal."

"Minor details," Emiko replied grumpily, "Fine."

"Now how about ideas that _won't_ get us in trouble."

"We could have a fruit market or something," Chiharu said, entering the class, "My family owns a whole bunch of orchards and farms like that. It'd be nice to help the poor get good, but affordable fruit."

'And it could present a recruitment opportunity,' Ichiro thought. "While that is nice," he said aloud, "I'm not sure it really has the right… angle for a student club."

"Well that's all I can think of at the moment."

"It's fine, we'll think of something. Let's just wait for the others."

Another few minutes passed before Akeno, Hana and finally Keiko appeared. "Hi Ichiro," Keiko said quietly.

"Hello Keiko," Ichiro replied pleasantly. "So now that I got you all here, let me tell you why I got you all here. We're going to visit the Host Club."

"What? Why?" Emiko asked, almost appalled.

"Know your enemy?" Akeno asked knowingly.

"Exactly! We go up there, have a little session and we come back with some ways to embarrass them or prank them."

Ichiro hopped to his feet and gestured the girls to follow him. It was actually a bit of a walk to Music Room Three, so they had time to talk and get to know each other further. Except Ichiro anyways, who was good at dodging questions. He could also lie like it was a bodily function, so keeping secrets was an easy feat for him. Eventually their conversation came around to careers.

"I want to go into the sciences," Akeno said, "I can't decide which yet, so I've just been studying everything. You have no idea how fun it is! Plus daddy owns a science and technology firm, so it works out perfectly for me."

'Yeah, to make outdated and backwards discoveries,' Ichiro thought.

"I only came 'cause my parents made me. I want to go into sports, like maybe marathon running," Emiko said, "And they make me wear this stupid dress. That Haruhi's lucky, the boys' uniform is so much better."

"While that may be, there is physical education here," Chiharu said.

"Oh please, what do these snots know about running a marathon or sports?"

"She has a point," added Ichiro, "I'm in physical education and it sucks."

"Bet you're top of the class in that," said Emiko.

"I could if I wanted to," replied Ichiro with a shrug, "I don't want to be the complete top. Too much attention."

"Why would you not want that kind of attention?"

"Some people don't. So Chiharu, what about you?"

"Oh, well… I'm not really sure honestly. As I said I like helping people, not just with the fruit thing, but in general. That leaves a lot of possibilities. What about you Ichiro-kun?"

"Oh let's not talk about me, what about you Hana-senpai?" Ichiro asked.

"I like fashion. I've been looking into history and geography to find interesting styles and ways I can mix them into new styles. I'm sure I can think of something for you if you like Ichiro-chan."

"That's fine babe, I got quite an extensive wardrobe as is," Ichiro replied. "And Keiko, anything you're interested in?"

"Um… animals," Keiko muttered as quietly as ever.

"Helping animals then? That'd be cool," said Ichiro.

"She's actually studying to go into biology," Emiko added, "She wants to try to restore extinct or endangered species. I don't really understand it, but she does."

"All very cool. And here we are; Music Room Three. You gals ready to meet the idiots?" Ichiro asked.

"We walked all the way, so we might as well," Emiko said. "Let's just hope they're not wearing some stupid cosplay."

Ichiro pushed open the double doors to the sight of the large music room which was filled with some couches, a couple small round tables and one large, long one. Facing the door was a large chair that could only be described as a throne on which sat Tamaki, surrounded by the other members of the Host Club. Luckily they were in their normal uniforms. "Hello lad- oh it's you," Tamaki said, his tone changing the moment he saw Ichiro. "Why do you have to come bother me here now too?" he whined.

"Well a pleasant hello to you too," replied Ichiro cheerily, "I have five fine ladies here who would like some entertainment, and I believe your Host Club is designed with that purpose in mind, is it not?"

"Yes I suppose so, but-"

"I told you Tamaki, I was only kidding yesterday."

"How old are you?" Haruhi blurted out.

"Fifteen, same as you Haruhi."

"Hey! He's old enough to be here, he said he was sorry, so quit your bellyaching and-" Emiko cried, only to get cut off by Ichiro covering her mouth.

"Emiko, please be pleasant," he chastised quietly.

"Fine," Emiko said with a pout. "But lemme point out that you're the one not using proper titles."

"I brought my ladies to be hosted by someone other than myself. And if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could I borrow Mitsukuni for a moment?"

"Well despite your attitude, you are a tad bit early, so I suppose if Honey-senpai doesn't mind, he can go with you for a moment," Kyoya said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "And we'll host your friends in the meantime."

"Sure, I'll go with him," Honey said cheerily, positively bounding over to him.

Ichiro gestured Honey to follow him to a corner of the music room while the girls were seated with one of the hosts. There were a couple reasons for this. For one, he wanted to get to know Honey so he could learn the best way to break him. For two, he wanted to see if his youthfulness was the result of a hormone or growth deficiency, or if somehow the youth formula the Society had developed had managed to fall into the hands of the Haninozukas. Ichiro suspected it was probably the former, but he wanted to be sure.

"So Mitsukuni, I know I don't use any honour titles, but I just don't care for being formal," Ichiro said, taking out his scanner as though he was texting to someone.

"It's okay. Oh, I don't think you ever told us what your name is."

'Oh right! Ichiro Kaneko."

"Ichiro-chan! I think that's cute," Honey said with a sweet smile.

"Please don't call me '-chan'," Ichiro said abruptly, "Only Hana can call me that."

"Ichiro-kun then? That doesn't sound as cute though."

"Just 'Ichiro' will be fine."

"So why did ya wanna see me?"

"Well for one I just wanted to apologize again for yesterday. It was this American thing I was trying; they call it a 'roast'. It's where you pretend to insult people for comedy, but only my ladies seemed to get it."

"It's fine, you're forgiven," Honey replied sweetly, "There another reason?"

"Yeah, I was thinking we should get to know each other. We're the two cute shota boys in the school, so we should stick together," explained Ichiro.

"You wanna be my friend?"

"Sure, I think we're a lot alike. So let's do a proper introduction; I'm Ichiro Kaneko."

"I'm Mitsukuni Haninozuka, nice to meet'cha Ichiro," Honey replied cheerily, "You know what we should do to seal it?"

"Share some cake?"

"Yeah! But you only get a little bit, I need my snacks."

"That's fine," Ichiro replied, looking at his scanner. It was just finishing, so he needed a few seconds more. "So you're the expert on what's cute, do I qualify?"

"Yeah of course! Why do you think I wanted to call you 'chan'?" Honey replied, as cheerfully and friendly as ever, "But all that matters is if you think you are."

"I do, I just wanted a second opinion," added Ichiro, with one of his own charming smiles, "And don't worry about me getting in your way here, I don't want to join the Host Club or anything."

The scan finished at this point. 'Good, just a growth deficiency,' Ichiro read, 'Though now it seems I've ended up the little brat's new friend. Maybe I should've thought my lies through before telling them.'

"Come on Ichiro-kun!" Honey cried, almost running towards the tables "If you want cake I'm not gonna wait for you."

"I'm comin' Mitsukuni," replied Ichiro, already regretting his approach, but he was in too far to change his tactic now. 'Besides, with this tactic I might be able to make sure Mitsukuni doesn't make it to graduation.'

"Takashi!" Honey called running to the table where Mori was sitting silently with Keiko.

"Wow, it's like a date at a library," Ichiro muttered as he caught up.

"Hey Takashi, can you take over for Haru-chan? I want some cake for me and my new friend please," Honey asked.

"How're you holding up?" Ichiro asked Keiko quietly, feeling strange as he asked.

There was another emotion he'd never felt before, and he didn't know what to call it. It felt like he cared what Keiko was feeling and wanted to make sure she wasn't feeling upset or nervous. If that was the case then he figured he was feeling concerned, but that was another emotion that wasn't right. 'Deal with that later,' he told himself.

"I'm fine," Keiko whispered.

"Of course Mitsukuni," Mori said, getting to his feet, "Your friend is Ichiro?"

"Yep," Ichiro replied, shooting the older boy a glance that dared him to say something about the day before.

Mori didn't seem to notice, or at least remembered the threat enough that he wasn't going to pursue the matter any further. He went over to talk to Haruhi, who was currently sitting with Akeno and talking about school of all things. Haruhi excused herself and swapped places with Mori and went off to grab a cake from, well; it seemed they also had a large refrigerator in this music room.

Honey sat down where Mori had been, looking extremely excited. "Would you like my seat?" Keiko whispered to Ichiro.

"You want to leave?"

"Kind of."

"Why don't you go sit with Takashi? Hosts are allowed to host more than one person at a time."

"Please Ichiro? I don't like this."

Ichiro sighed, "Fine, if that's what you want."

"Thank you," Keiko said, getting up and leaving quickly and quietly.

Ichiro sat in the seat she'd vacated, sitting directly across from Honey. "Actually Ichiro," Kyoya called from his spot on one of the couches where he had been talking, rather intensely it seemed, with Chiharu, "I think it would be better if you sat beside Honey-senpai."

'Trying to create a cute brothers look,' Ichiro thought, 'This can definitely be played to my advantage.'

He promptly moved so that he was sitting beside Honey, and Haruhi served the cake just as a wave of girls arrived. "Let's share a slice Mitsukuni," Ichiro said, "You have guests to impress now."

It seemed to be strawberry shortcake that he and Honey began to share. And in spite of himself, Ichiro had to give the older boy credit on his taste. As he'd suggested, he and Honey shared the slices of cake, and as he'd expected, Honey's guests were just thrilled to see _two_ young-looking boys together. "Oh Honey, who's your adorable friend?" one of the girls asked.

"I'm Ichiro Kaneko, it's a pleasure to meet you fine ladies," said Ichiro flirtatiously, "I'm sharing cake with my new pal Mitsukuni."

"Aren't they adorable?" one of the girls asked her friends, a statement met with agreement from everyone.

"He's like Honey's slightly older brother," another said.

"And I don't mind pretending to be the youngest! It's more fun," Honey said cheerily. "Hey would you ladies like some cake too?"

"Yeah ladies, would you care to join us?" Ichiro added with a wink.

The girls ended up agreeing to have a little because, despite the weight-based concerns, they couldn't, in their own words, resist the cuteness of both of them. Ichiro continued to play his 'confident, flirty' persona throughout. It was easy to do, and one of his more often used acts, to the point it was a core component of his false personality. Yet while he used this personality often, Ichiro found it strange that for the first time since he'd begun operating a public image he was actually finding it… fun.

'These girls are vain and stupid,' he thought sourly, 'They care about the material and are a primary example of the spoiled decadence of the aristocracy. I should not be enjoying pandering to idiots like these.'

And yet he was. He was having fun flaunting his youthful looks and getting the girls to squeal with delight at how cute he was. Even working next to Honey, who he despised, wasn't so bad. It seemed the girls who were hosted by Honey began to split into two a little, with one bunch focusing on the actual host, while the other seemed to be focusing on Ichiro. Of course the groups shuffled and changed, sometimes between each other and sometimes with new guests, but the result was he seemed to find himself a sort of temporary Host, instead of Honey's partner. Though that said the two groups interacted heavily with each other and with both boys.

"So Ichiro," one of the girls asked, "What sort of things do you like?"

"Well I know I like shorts instead of these pants. Shorts are so much more free, and comfy," he said, "And I like your beautiful blue eyes."

"Aww, he's so cute," the girls replied.

"I also like soccer. I don't know if you ladies know much about sports, but I'm pretty much the best soccer player you'll ever meet," he boasted, "And I get to wear shorts, so that makes it even better."

"What about food? Do you like cake like Honey?"

"Maybe not quite as much, I like chocolate or strawberry milk. It's sweet and it gives me energy, energy to play soccer with. And all the other sports I'm good at, which is pretty much all of them," he added, "You gorgeous girls should see me play, I know I can get something set up. My servants do absolutely anything I ask them to."

"He's so cute, I want to kiss him," some of the girls said.

And they did. Ichiro couldn't help but grin when he got a kiss on each cheek, and another two from different girls, in fact he found them clamouring for a chance to kiss his cheek or hug him. He was enjoying it too, and he knew he shouldn't be. He was also beginning to notice that a rather inordinate number of guests seemed to be gathering around himself and Honey. "What're you doing!?" Tamaki half-yelled and half-whined as he stormed over to him. "You can't be stealing my guests; you're not even part of the Host Club."

"Don't yell at me," Ichiro replied, "It's not very princely to yell at a kid who's younger than you. And I'm not stealing these lovely ladies; that would imply that they're objects that you can possess."

"He's right Tamaki-senpai," one of the girls said as the group of them gave him a cold glare.

"I can't help that I'm cuter than you, so don't be mean to me."

"Yeah Tamaki, don't be mean to him," a number of the girls echoed.

Tamaki seemed like he'd been slapped in the face, but Ichiro wasn't done yet messing with the Host Club. He was enjoying the attention from these girls, and it seemed to be at the expense of one of the students that he hated most. There was one more thing though. "Oh, Hikaru and Kaoru are doing their brotherly love thing again," he moaned, "I know some of the ladies love it, but it kinda makes me uncomfortable."

"Aww it's okay," one of the girls said, hugging him, "Tell us more about these sports you do."

"Actually I got something even better for your beautiful eyes," said Ichiro, the flirty tone in his voice increasing a bit, "You lovely ladies want to see a little shota-on-shota action?"

"What do you mean?" another one of his guests asked.

"Hey Mitsukuni," Ichiro said, swinging himself around to face his new 'friend'.

"Yeah Ichiro-kun!?" Honey asked sweetly.

In the blink of an eye Ichiro leaned forwards and kissed Honey right on the lips, and added a slight embrace to increase the appeal. He heard the girls of both his group and Honey's squeal with delight, and Honey seemed to figure out his intent quickly enough. Then it was done and Honey sat there stunned and confused. "That's what I mean," Ichiro said.

As he'd intended, the 'shota kiss' managed to carry the guests to the end of the club's session for the day, which was very close. Ichiro heard his guests and Honey's asking what it was like, if they might spend more time together, and so on, as well as getting back to other discussion about the boys themselves.

Finally the session ended for the day and Ichiro waved, and kissed, the remainder of his guests good-bye while Kyoya ushered them out. The rest of the Kaneko Club were actually still there, having taken to their phones while they waited for the day to end. "Well it seemed having you here actually proved to be quite useful," Kyoya said to Ichiro, who had moved to one of the couches, "Perhaps you could consider joining, it seems you have remarkable skill in being a host already."

"I'm afraid I have to decline," replied Ichiro, "It was fun for a day, but I'm not making a habit of it."

"How disappointing, well if that's all perhaps you could show yourself out."

"I could, but I do have to make one more point; my payment."

"I'm sorry, but what payment?"

"Come now Kyoya, you of all people should know that one's services do not come for free. I assisted the Host Club today, and so you will pay me fifty percent of all profits from the photos and memorabilia from today that concern me and Mitsukuni."

This comment was the one that seemed like a slap in the face to Kyoya, or maybe more like a punch in the gut. He wasn't one to lose his composure, Ichiro had learned that, but he noticed the boy's glasses slip down his nose rather than be adjusted like they usually would. "Surely you can't be serious," he said after a long pause.

"I would never joke about payment. I saw the photos get taken, especially when I kissed Mitsukuni," said Ichiro, "They'll sell, and I get fifty-percent of the profit. And don't attempt to weasel out of it either by destroying anything profitable, because then you'll have to pay me a price that I will set."

Before Kyoya could argue, Ichiro got to his feet and gestured for his club members to follow him, "And I'll talk to you later Mitsukuni," he added cheerily, before leading the girls out the doors.


	4. Chapter 5

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 2**

Once home that night Ichiro immediately headed for his room, like he often did. It was his one place of complete solitude, and it allowed him the peace and quiet to think, rest and practice. He was in a pretty good mood though; playing host for a day was amusing and forcing Kyoya to pay him for it seemed a good humiliation. Though he was sure Kyoya wouldn't pay, not yet, he was wily enough to find a loophole of some kind. "And I'll be there to refute it," Ichiro added aloud.

Then of course there was Honey, who he would continue to get closer to. It gave him a good position to keep notes on the Host Club and maybe find a good time to strike. Then there was the fear that he'd instilled in Mori, and Tamaki was frustrated with him, and the frustration of Tamaki was always amusing to watch. So all in all he was feeling pretty good about what had transpired.

However there was one thing that bothered him, and that was Keiko, or rather the emotions he'd experienced at the sight of her nervousness. It wasn't part of his false persona, he actually felt 'concerned' about her. It ran together with the various other incorrect and disturbing emotions he'd felt recently. He couldn't make sense of them, or why he was suddenly feeling them. All his life he'd never cared about other people, that was the correct thing to do he was told. Not to mention he was perfect, so he shouldn't ever feel these emotions. "And yet I am. Why?" he asked himself as he lay on his bed, still in his uniform.

As he thought about it though he started to develop a theory; maybe it wasn't him, but them. The girls, he figured, were actually special in some way. It was the only explanation that made sense. The only way something perfect could be changed was by someone else with some special ability to do so. He was determined to figure out just what it was.

However his thoughts were interrupted by someone opening the door of his room and saying "Ichiro-sama, your training session is ready to begin whenever you are ready," the servant, a young man, said.

'Either this person is new or a complete imbecile,' Ichiro thought angrily as he sat up. "Tell me servant, are you new?"

"Newly transferred to your service, yes."

"Then one of the first things you should have been told is that nobody ever comes into my room," Ichiro said angrily.

Before the servant could escape, Ichiro dashed across the room and landed a swift and powerful kick to the man's ribs. There was a sharp crack that indicated the servant's ribs had broken and Ichiro followed up by flipping the man, driving his head hard into the floor. "There, that should be punishment enough," said Ichiro, looking at the man whose lay on the ground in pain.

Ichiro roughly pulled the man back into the hall before returning to his room and shutting the door behind him. Still, despite the servant's utter stupidity, from Ichiro's eyes anyways, he had provided him with a little practice and it was good to know training was ready. With that being the case he quickly donned his pure black dogi and headed down to his dojo.

The dojo room was pretty basic, just a mat on the floor of a pretty basic white walled room with wooden flooring. What weren't seen at first glance, at least not by people unaware of their existence, were various hidden storage rooms and passages behind designated wall panels. There were specific rectangular spots that, when pressed, would open doors to these rooms and halls. It was from one of these hidden doors that his first 'practice target' emerged.

The target was not a dummy of some kind, or a robot as was somewhat common amongst the Society. No, what emerged from the hidden door was a human. A living, breathing human garbed in some kind of police or military outfit. "One of the best of the Haninozuka family's recent graduates," one Ichiro's servants said from the doorway, "Trained by Mitsukuni Haninozuka himself."

"Trained by the little idiot himself are you?" Ichiro asked the man.

"Who are you? What's going on?" the man asked.

"I had you brought to a special arena where you can prove your fighting prowess," explained Ichiro, "My underlings should've explained this to you; you fight me and try to beat me. If you manage to knock me out, then you win and I let you go. If you lose, you don't get to leave."

"You brought me here to fight you?" the man asked.

"Yes. And don't hold back; fight like your life depends on it, because it does."

Ichiro surprised the man by dashing forwards at great speed, but dodging aside just before coming within striking distance. Instead he rolled around behind his opponent and came out of it with a spin kick that caused the man to topple to the ground, perhaps due to not expecting this level of speed and expertise from someone so physically young. Still he quickly sprang back to his feet and countered with moves of his own.

It didn't last long though. The man fought with only a couple styles, Ichiro knew them and had plenty to choose from in retaliating, as well as gymnastics to help. The man's counters were easy to avoid and Ichiro retaliated swiftly and viciously using a vast array of strikes. He could feel the man's bones break and his strength quickly dwindle. Then, after having thrown the man to the floor, he followed by slamming his head hard against the floor just beyond the mat's edge with a sharp crack. Ichiro wasn't quite finished though, so he quickly brought his foot down on the man's throat and crushed his windpipe.

"He perhaps had some skill," Ichiro said, "Dispose of the body please."

One of his servants swiftly moved in and removed the body while Ichiro sighed and did a couple stretches. It wasn't always kidnapped people he practiced on, sometimes he did actually use dummies or robots, but these servants of greed weren't needed in his world, so he saw no problem in disposing of them in a way that made them somewhat constructive. "Bring in the next one."

The next man who was brought in seemed nervous, and had dark hair and dark eyes. Ichiro was feeling almost bored at how easy this was going to be. He moved to stand in front of the man and unleashed a spinning kick aimed straight for the man's ribs. He was extremely surprised when the man swiftly caught his foot and threw him across the room. Ichiro only barely managed to recover from his surprise in time to right himself and spring off the wall and back at the man with his fists ready.

Ichiro was prepared to plunge his fists right into the man's chest, but he dodged aside in time to avoid a full blow and the boy ended up striking only a glancing blow to the man's arm. 'He shouldn't be this good,' Ichiro thought as he landed and spun around to face his opponent. "Who are you?" he asked, "You use arts that are not known to the Haninozukas."

"Very good Champion of Shadows," the man replied.

"How do you know that?" Ichiro pressed, not liking where this was going at all.

"Do you really think the Society of Shadows could remain unnoticed for so long? There are some of us who _have_ noticed, and we want something different for our world."

'Not good,' Ichiro thought. "Let me guess, you think you can save the world by stopping us."

"There is no reason to save that which is beyond saving. Humanity must be eradicated, not trimmed. Only those who the Controller selects will be allowed to survive, and we will create our own world."

"Enough nonsense!" Ichiro yelled and attacked again.

This time Ichiro wasn't underestimating his opponent. This time he wouldn't be caught off-guard, and so he fought with the same speed and power as before, and this time watched his opponent's moves so he could counter them. This time it seemed to be his opponent who was surprised. Ichiro was a very offensive fighter and he made sure to give his opponents little time to retaliate and broke through defenses.

Although the man did occasionally manage to get a strike in, it was usually nothing worse than a mild bruise, though even that was more than Ichiro had encountered as of late. In the end Ichiro delivered a pair of rib-breaking kicks to the man and finished by smashing his throat with a powerful jab. "Well… well done boy," the man rasped through his damaged throat, "But the Order of Steel… is more than me."

"I am aware," Ichiro said coldly, "It's nice to have a name. Do you have anything else to say before your pathetic life is snuffed out?"

"Prepare… for Hell," the man rasped, after which Ichiro drove his foot into the man's throat again, quickly killing him.

"Ass," Ichiro muttered bitterly, "Men! Get this spying scum out of here and prepare the terminal. I need to report this."

Half an hour later Ichiro was sitting in front of a large computer monitor that more resembled a flatscreen television in a small room built like a bunker. He wore a black robe over his gi, because he was going to return to training after this, but a black robe was the formal attire of the Society of Shadows and was required to be worn when speaking officially.

The screen turned on and showed a man in a hooded black robe, with his face hidden in shadow. "Legate, you have something to report?" the man asked, his voice calm and almost emotionless.

"Yes fath- Shadow Lord Acheron. I have discovered the existence of an organization who is aware of the Society, and who is opposed to us. They call themselves the Order of Steel, and one of its members posed as a former Haninozuka student to, it would seem, infiltrate my safehouse."

"This is not the first time we have heard of the Order of Steel, but this information is nonetheless invaluable. You are to tighten your security and cease the use of live targets in training."

"What!?" Ichiro blurted out with shock. "Where's the fun in practicing with inanimate opponents?"

"Your personal amusement may serve as a good motivating emotion, but use of living targets is an excess that is unnecessary. Is that understood?"

"Yes Shadow Lord Acheron," Ichiro replied. "May I have permission to investigate any leads I may find in regards to the Order of Steel?

"You may. But use utmost discretion. The very fact this group knows of our existence is more knowledge than they should be allowed to possess."

"Understood."

There was another question that nagged at the back of Ichiro's mind whenever he spoke to Shadow Lord Acheron. Yet he also knew it was inappropriate to bring up. It hinted at incorrect emotions, and he was beyond those emotions. There was still some curiosity behind it though, and that could be a reason. "Will that be all Legate?"

"Yes Lord Acheron," Ichiro answered after a brief pause, at which point Acheron cut off the connection leaving Ichiro to brood for a moment. "Father, what happened to my mom?" he asked into the empty room.

After a few moments to pull himself together he returned to his training room. "Bring all remaining prisoners to me, they're to be executed," he told one of his servants, "And we are to use only artificial training targets from now on."

There were only three more men, all from the Ootori private army, and when they were thrown onto the mat they held Ichiro with burning eyes. "You won't get away with this," one of them said boldly.

"Of course I will," Ichiro said, delivering a powerful kick to the man's head that caused a sharp CRACK as his skull fractured. "You really think your pathetic Ootori bosses will even know where you've gone? Maybe we have agents in the group right now that are making sure your existences are wiped away."

"Who are you? What is it you want?" the man with the broken skull muttered through his pain.

"I am Legate Ichiro of the Society of Shadows. We've worked for millennia to destroy the criminal, the corrupt and the decadent. And now that I've been created, the perfect human, our time will come. Each rich family and each corporation will fall. And when all is said and done I will be the great hero of humanity, leading them into a perfect, prosperous future."

"You're crazy! How does mass murder pave the way for anything other than war and destruction?" one of the other soldiers protested.

"This is not murder. This is cleansing," Ichiro replied. "Don't worry, as servants of decadence you won't see it."

Ichiro punctuated this remark by delivering a powerful strike to the injured man's neck, breaking it and killing him. 'Ah, the rush of power,' he thought. "And one less servant of excess in the world," he said.

"How could you just kill him!? How can you kill any of us like this?"

"By knowing you shouldn't exist in the first place," replied Ichiro darkly.

He struck them hard and fast, breaking bones in several places, before finishing the job by breaking their necks and letting them drop to the floor. Ichiro had his servants remove the bodies; they were to be dissolved with the same chemical he used the previous day. It was the only enjoyment he could find in life, the death of the corrupt and their servants, and another day of it had come to a close.

Ichiro went to have a shower first, stripping off his bloody gi and wrapping a towel around his waist he took a moment to gaze over his leanly muscled form, his abs flexing a little as he breathed. "How could what I do be murder?" he asked himself, "They're just blind and brainwashed. Anyone with clarity could see my perfection."

He flexed a couple muscles and just couldn't see anything other than perfection of form. "Developed muscles not only serve the practical purposes of strength, but also help to encourage reproduction and increase the strength of the next generation. How is it not possible to see that?"

Ichiro shrugged off any doubts he had and showered, got dressed, wearing all black as he often did. After eating dinner he had to head to his computer for mental exercises, involving randomly generated tests of questions, all difficult even for him. He was shocked when his scanner rang. "Who the hell has my number?" Ichiro asked himself, answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Ichiro!" came the voice of Emiko from the other end.

"Emiko? How did you get my number?" Ichiro asked bluntly.

"Your chauffeur gave it to me. So what's up?"

"Excuse me for just a moment," replied Ichiro.

Quickly Ichiro called for the chauffeur, using a different function of his scanner, then resumed the call with Emiko. "So, why exactly are you calling me?"

"Well I was thinking of things we could do as the Kaneko Club. Let's be a sports club. The PE at that school sucks, so why don't we try to make it better?"

"I suppose we could give it a shot."

"Great! So what else are you doing?"

"Trivia quizzes on the internet."

"Really!?" Emiko asked with a laugh "I didn't know you were an egghead like Akeno."

"You'd rather be an idiot? Akeno's smart, I like that," Ichiro explained, "Now I have to get back to it. I'll see you tomorrow."

He hung up and turned to a knock at his door. He opened the door to find his chauffeur standing there. "You called master?"

"Why did you give my number to those girls?" Ichiro asked.

"I only have it to Emiko, and only because she asked."

"That's not a reason!" Ichiro yelled kicking the man's ribs hard, but only enough to bruise.

"Master…" the man began, "I acted with poor judgment, and you have my apologies. I merely felt you could use friends."

"Friends Kazuya!?" Ichiro cried furiously "Friendship is an unnecessary excess of human interaction. It has no reason to exist and I certainly don't need it. And you suggested I go to re-education!?"

Ichiro punctuated the point by punching Kazuya, though once again not quite hard enough to cause any serious damage. "I'm sorry master," he said, ignoring the abuse, "I've had lapses and errors in judgment. I will make sure it never happens again."

"Well," Ichiro said after a long pause, "I suppose that's to be expected of the imperfect. Very well, you're forgiven and you may leave. But don't let it happen again."

Kazuya bowed and left while Ichiro shut the door behind him and returned to his computer. "I wonder if I could continue to find ways to have fun with the Host Club," Ichiro muttered to himself, "I'm sure there's some fun to be had there, even without killing them."

He went to bed with those thoughts, his brain already scheming away. And while he slept he dreamed of a beaten and broken Honey in front of him, begging for mercy. In response he lifted the older boy up and smashed his knee into Honey's back, damaging it enough that the 'boy lolita' could no longer stand. "Why do you hate me so much?" Honey asked, crying.

"Because…" Ichiro began, "you're so sickeningly nice and friendly and you carry around that stuffed rabbit like a six-year old. Yet you have the respect and recognition of the entire country because of your miraculous skills in martial arts. Now here I have proven I am your superior in every way. You enjoy your stupid fame and limelight and you don't deserve any of it. The praise of the entire world should be mine. It _will_ be mine."

For Ichiro it was an extremely happy dream. It was what he wanted most at the moment; to show Japan that their precious little Mitsukuni Haninozuka and his entire family could be crushed beneath his foot. And then he'd show them who truly deserved their praise. That day would come, but he had to remain patient until it did.

To keep himself entertained he had to find a job for the Kaneko Club, and think of ways to continue to harass the Host Club. It wasn't yet time to go to school, so he let his brain return to plotting while he returned to sleep.


	5. Chapter 6

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 3**

"Prank is such a crude term," Ichiro said to himself, slipping into Music Room Three early that morning.

He decided that the best way to toy with the Host Club was, obviously, to prank them. Though he didn't care for the playful nature of the word, he felt it fit what he would be doing best. Whenever he felt particularly angry with the Host Club, he'd prank them as a way of letting off steam. Most of all he wanted to torment Honey, and what better way than messing with his sweets.

So he made his way to their pantry, or kitchen, or whatever they thought it was and found where all the cakes and pastries were kept. There were quite a lot of them too. His prank was rather simple, at least to him. He had some nanobots, one of the Society's greatest breakthroughs, microscopic robots that were key to some of their greatest technological feats, including the lock manipulators.

The vials he pulled out of his pocket contained nanobots that were programmed to swarm around every pastry in the pantry and add an extra little something; a liquid emetic, and a salty one at that which they were floating in. The idea was that the salt would ruin the taste of every cake in the pantry, and even if Honey was able to push by that he'd end up throwing up as a result of the emetic. So he opened the vials and the nanobots swarmed through the pantry, he could see them indicated with his scanner, and saturated the cakes with their small payload. But millions of small payloads can add up quickly. It was clear, so it wouldn't be seen; only tasted.

After about five minutes he felt satisfied and recalled the nanobots to the vial and left the pantry the way he'd found it. He wasn't entirely finished yet. First he needed to set up his cameras; miniature disks the size of his thumbnail. Though they could capture large amounts of audio and video, they were useless unless activated remotely with his scanner.

Once they were set up he moved onto another trap; pellets full of quick-hardening riot foam. Though Ichiro was of the opinion that any uprising, like a riot, should be quelled simply by killing every person involved, some of the eggheads thought that non-lethal weaponry could prove useful in capturing valuable workforce for re-education. The foam had actually proven useful and the Senate had approved it, and that was good enough for him. Each pellet was about as long as a flash drive, but a bit wider and thicker. They were concealable enough and he placed them around the room, mostly under chairs or couches, and a couple in the underside corners of tables.

"And that should be everything," surmised Ichiro quietly, "Now all I have to do is wait until this afternoon."

Before leaving the room Ichiro paused to make sure there was nobody else in the hallway beyond the doors. It would be no good if someone was able to connect him to the traps. After several moments of stillness and listening for any sound and feeling for any vibration he was satisfied that there was nobody in the hall, and so he quickly slipped through the doors. There weren't any people in the connecting halls either, which he'd figured would be the case and so he made his way back towards his first period class, English. 'Not like I don't already know English,' he thought with annoyance.

As he reached the end of one of the halls he saw someone familiar walk from a perpendicular hallway. "Haruhi!" he said with surprise.

They were quite close to the English room, and it seemed that she was going in the same direction as him.

"Oh hi, you're that boy from yesterday… Ichiro right?"

"Yes, Ichiro Kaneko, nice to meet you Haruhi," Ichiro said politely.

"Haruhi Fujioka. You know now I get a good look at you… we share first period."

"We do?"

"Yeah, I hadn't noticed before. I don't think I've ever seen you so… alert."

"What do you mean?"

"In class you seem very lazy, sometimes like you're ready to fall asleep. Until yesterday I'd never seen you so alert and… assertive I guess. Why aren't you like that in class?"

"Just not very interested I guess. I'm already pretty fluent in English, my dad wanted me to take it, wanted to make sure I remained fluent. Why are you in English?"

"I want to become a lawyer, so it's helpful to know a variety of languages."

"And you're here on a scholarship correct?"

"How did you know that?"

"I'm not as 'lazy' as you might think," Ichiro said with a smile, "And you're a girl."

"Two for two, and here I thought you were some rich pretty boy coasting by on his looks."

'You better thank Jupiter I can't punish you for that remark,' Ichiro thought.

"Oh and speaking of pretty boys; Kyoya-senpai told everyone in the Host Club to tell you if we saw you that he's not paying you. He said you were there as a volunteer and are not eligible for payment."

"That's what he thinks hm?" asked Ichiro with a smirk. "If you see him before I do, then you can tell him that unfortunately for him my status as a volunteer ended when he asked me to sit beside Honey, and I agreed. He'd be right if he hadn't asked me to move, or at least if I'd ignored him. So yes, he will be paying me. And if he tries to weasel out of it again I'll begin charging interest."

"You really want money from him that badly?"

"No. It's not the money; it's a matter of striking a blow to Kyoya's pride. He always gets his way, especially with money. It won't do good things to his ego to lose to someone, especially a youthful little first year like me."

"That seems kind of vindictive."

"Surely you're smart enough to tell that I don't like Kyoya. He's too arrogant and obsessed with money and power for my tastes."

"I don't think he's that bad. You're right he's arrogant and stingy, but I don't think he's quite that megalomaniacal."

"He's forcing you to pay back a debt."

"Three for three, but I did break their vase so I do owe them."

'You're too nice for your own good Haruhi,' Ichiro thought, 'He's nothing but a power hungry monster who deserves nothing more than to have my katar rend his throat.'

"Whatever, it's still a blow to his pride and that's what matters. What about Mitsukuni?"

"Honey-senpai? He was pretty thrilled with having you around actually. What was it he said… oh yeah; he described you as 'cute, sweet and loads of fun'."

"He likes me?"

"Seems so, though Honey-senpai seems to like everyone."

'I wonder if that means anything, if he likes me then perhaps he could be redeemed. No! Don't think that way Ichiro, he's rich and arrogant. He has all the attention that should be mine. I _will_ destroy him so utterly that the Haninozuka name will be struck from history.'

"Something wrong Ichiro?" Haruhi asked as they reached their class.

"No, no, just dreading having to sit through this dullness another day," replied Ichiro, gesturing towards the class.

"Well the sooner you get started, the sooner it'll be over right?"

"I suppose," replied Ichiro with a shrug, moving to sit at his desk

The next hour or so was the usual boring drivel Ichiro sat through every day. And he still didn't care. 'Note to self; next time I infiltrate a school, remember to more carefully choose the subjects. At least if I'd gone with more science or technology based courses I could actually do something.'

After about an hour of that boredom the bell rang for the next class and Ichiro got to his feet and dragged himself off to the next class. Though he hadn't gotten far when a pair of now familiar faces walked up beside him. 'Great, the Hitachiins are in my homeroom as well as Haruhi? She's not so bad, but these idiots would probably be better off dead.'

"Hey there Ichiro," Hikaru said.

"How come we didn't notice yesterday that we share homeroom?" added Kaoru.

"Maybe because you were too busy fantasizing about how to have genetically weak, inbred mutant children."

"Ouch," said Hikaru, "You don't have to bite."

"Yeah, we're just trying to be nice," added Kaoru.

"Really? The sneaky, immature, devious, prank-loving Hitachiin twins are just trying to be nice?" scoffed Ichiro.

"You're too kind," the twins said together cheerily, "Sneaky, immature _and_ devious."

"Quit the antics and tell me what you want," Ichiro said sharply, feeling his temper begin to rise.

"One more antic first," replied Hikaru.

"I have to get to biology, so no, spill or I begin adding interest to Kyoya's debt."

"No, no, our antic comes first," Kaoru said.

Ichiro groaned in frustration, 'You really don't want to find out what happens when you push me too far you idiots,' he thought angrily. "Fine," said Ichiro, "What 'antic' do you want to pull?"

"More of a game, to cheer you up," said Hikaru.

"It's really simple," continued Kaoru while the two of them moved around him and donned hats.

"See if you can tell which of us is which," they said together, now with hats covering their hair parts.

Ichiro could tell them apart, their voices were different, there were slight physical differences he could see in their faces, and his scanner could tell which was which. But having just seen their hair parts and kept track of their movements he already knew which was which. Though he also suspected they would tell him he was right even if he did get it wrong, at least this time. "Hikaru on my right, Kaoru on my left," Ichiro said without hesitation

"Sorry to tell you, but," Hikaru began.

"You're absolutely right!" followed Kaoru.

"See, don't you feel happy now?"

"No, I'm pissed that you're wasting my time and leaving me barely any time to get to class."

"You're in good shape, you'll make it," replied Hikaru.

"Anyways Kyoya told us to tell you he's not paying you, said you-"

"Not eligible as a volunteer, I know. Haruhi told me," said Ichiro, trying very hard to keep himself calm.

"Oh, well carry on then," Kaoru said, almost sheepishly.

"Before I do let me tell you something I heard about Haruhi's neighbourhood."

"You know where Haruhi lives?" Hikaru asked with surprise.

"How'd you find out?"

"A little bird told me. But I heard that there's an insane killer on the loose in that area."

"What? You're making that up," the twin said in disbelief.

"I wish I was. They say it's some sort of mutant cybernetic experiment gone wrong, that it lives in the sewers and appears on dark nights, stalking its prey. It sends cryptic, threatening messages to your phone. Then it appears in the shadows just out of the corner of your eye, making you think it's just your mind playing tricks. Oh but it's there, watching… waiting.

"Then, just as the person reaches their front door, just when they think they're safe, it strikes! It drops down from above and viciously tears out their throat, and dragging their warm corpse back to its lair, making sure that it doesn't leave a trail. It could happen to anyone in that area. Imagine poor Haruhi, alone in her tiny little apartment in the middle of the night, weak and vulnerable while you two are in your soft comfy bed in your big mansion. She could be the next victim. It could reach in and bring her down to its lair, never to be seen again, and all that would be left would be a single strand of hair that fell from her head. And imagine that as she died it she would think of her beloved Hikaru and Kaoru and why they weren't there to save her."

The bell rang, causing the enraptured Hitachiin twins to jump. "That's a… pretty good ghost story," Hikaru said.

"Yeah, it probably is just a story. You never know though, there's a grain of truth in every story. Anyways I gotta get to class, see ya!" Ichiro said, running off down the emptying corridors. 'That was totally worth being late,' Ichiro thought, hoping his story would have the kind of effect he wanted.

Like the previous class he spent this one bored and in a stupor, though not quite as badly since he did at least like biology, even if what he was being taught was, to him, woefully simple. After that it was German, another class that made him feel like he wanted to stuff something in the professor's mouth to shut him up. 'I'm never taking any language classes ever again,' he thought bitterly as it neared its end.

Then it was phys ed, perhaps the only class he had that didn't make him feel like he would die of boredom. Not only that, but it was basketball at the moment, which was actually challenging for him, as much as he would hate to admit it. Being short had its downsides. But his genetically enhanced strength did extend to his legs, so he could play at an average level. "It's not like size matters anyways," he muttered to himself as he showered at the end of the class.

It was lunch time now, and unlike most of the public schools, there was actually a cafeteria at Ouran. Two actually, and the term 'cafeteria' might be underselling it. Ichiro thought it could more so pass as a fancy restaurant, but he always ate food he had prepared at home. He also tended to sit alone, partly because he liked to remain unseen and unnoticed, and partly because he wasn't really that good at even pretending to make friends. He found all the other people incredibly annoying and they wore on his patience. On top of that he wasn't always sure where to start unless given an opening, once again because he didn't want to become conspicuous.

Well that wasn't true, what he wanted more than anything else was for people to notice him; for people to praise him and respect him. But his personal desires weren't important, only his mission. His missions required him to remain unnoticed, so unnoticed he would remain. He could not show the world his true talents, and deep down it made him furious.

Today though, like the day before, shortly after he took his seat at one of the fine mahogany tables in the 'cafeteria' he was joined by Akeno, Emiko, Keiko, Chiharu and Hana. "Why do you always hide back here?" Emiko asked.

"I told you I like my privacy."

"I hope you weren't trying to hide from me sweetie," Hana said, pinching his cheek a bit.

"Aww, now why would I want to hide from someone as beautiful as you?" Ichiro replied sweetly, and shared a quick kiss with her.

"You enjoy sitting beside your little shota there?" Emiko asked mockingly.

"Hey! I'm not _that_ short."

"While Emiko's being her usual, um, blunt self, she is right," Akeno said, "You're pretty short for your age."

"I'm taller than Honey," Ichiro protested, surprised to find he was actually enjoying this.

"Everyone's taller than Honey," replied Akeno simply.

"Okay I'm short, I know it, but I don't like being reminded of it all the time."

"Look I wasn't trying to insult anyone, I'm sorry," Emiko said, "But you totally are a shota."

"And how're you doing Keiko?" Ichiro asked, trying to change the topic.

Keiko didn't respond and continued eating her lunch quietly. "She can't talk here at school," Emiko reminded him.

"I know, but you never know, she might break through her social anxiety one day. Just gotta keep trying."

"Oh I just remembered something," Chiharu said suddenly, "I saw Tamaki-san on the way to class and he told me to tell you Ichiro that-"

"That Kyoya says I'm not eligible for payment because I was serving as a volunteer?" Ichiro said tiredly.

"How'd you know?"

"Haruhi told me on the way in, and those two idiot twins made me late for second period because they made me play some moronic game to hear the same exact thing."

"Oooh you got Hitachiined?" Chiharu asked "That's never good."

"Was it that stupid 'which of us is which' one?" Emiko asked.

"Yes. It's not like anyone with a decent eye couldn't see who's who _before_ they put the hats on, then you just have to watch them closely as they shuffle around."

"I know!" Emiko agreed, "And depending on their mood they'll tell you you're right or wrong regardless of whether you actually got it right or wrong."

"At least they don't do their incest act outside of the Host Club, that thing makes me sick," Ichiro added.

"I found it so stupid that it was funny."

"I didn't like that Kyoya fellow," Chiharu said, "I think you're right Ichiro, he doesn't care about anyone but himself. That kind of selfishness is… intolerable."

"I liked Haruhi," Akeno added, "She makes a cute boy, and she's humble. Really smart too, I could've talked to her about the flaws in the Japanese legal system for hours."

"Are you into girls?" Ichiro asked.

"I don't know, never really thought about it to be honest."

"And Emiko, you hung out with the Idiot Twins right?"

"Yeah, as I said, I find them funny," Emiko confirmed, "Stupid, arrogant and selfish sure, but still funny."

"Confession time," Hana added, "Tamaki-kohai is, well, his act is enchanting. I prefer my little Ichiro-chan here, but at least Tamaki can be convincing."

"Keiko and Takashi didn't talk to each other. I know Keiko couldn't, but I don't think Takashi was being very comforting," Ichiro said.

They'd finished eating by now and they quickly threw out any trash and put any dishes in the return spot, after which they headed outside for the remaining twenty minutes of break.

Ichiro was still surprised to find he was enjoying himself. These girls, he liked spending time with them and just being casual and relaxed. He enjoyed having the particularly close and physical relationship with Hana, and that she preferred him over Tamaki. Even the conversation about his height had been fun, not aggravating. Emiko's confidence and firey attitude were enjoyable, as was Akeno's intelligence and Chiharu's warmth. Ichiro was sure that it was these qualities that were having an effect on him; he just wasn't sure why they would be able to affect his mind so much that he began feeling emotions that were wrong.

Then there was Keiko who he couldn't stop feeling sorry for. He wanted to help her somehow, but didn't know how. And for that matter it didn't make sense to him why he should feel that way. It was all twisting his head around. All his life he was told the rich are corrupt, but here were five girls who were rich and friendly. Chiharu had even said she wanted to help the poor, and none of them were arrogant or cruel. They existed firmly outside the definitions they should've fit within.

Through the rest of lunch break there was just one thought remaining on his mind; 'I just still don't understand.'


	6. Chapter 7

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 4**

After lunch Ichiro made his way towards his next class, which was Japanese law. This one wasn't so much boring as he found some of it to be laughably stupid. It was all about courts and stuff, and he found the system so outdated and broken. 'Sentences should be swift and decisive. Anyone who breaks the law should be killed, simple as that. They're useless to society and they'll only breed more of their same kind,' he thought derisively. It was the reason he had killed the thief a couple days before.

He was approaching his law classroom when he felt someone jump on him and hug him energetically and knew exactly who it was before he spoke. "Hi Ichiro-kun! I didn't know you had a class in this hall."

"Hey Mitsukuni," Ichiro replied.

"Aww, you upset Ichiro-kun?" Honey asked, letting go and moving around in front of him.

"No, just recovering from the surprise," replied Ichiro with a smile, "I'm not used to surprise glomping."

"It's fun though right!?"

"Yeah, sure," said Ichiro, quite cheery sounding now, "I have to get to class though Mitsukuni, so you gotta make this short."

"Don't worry I will. So first of all Kyoya-" Honey began, but was interrupted by Ichiro covering his mouth with his hand.

"No, don't say it. Kyoya told you all to tell me he's not paying. Yes, I've heard it already."

"Oh, okay. Then I can get to my question; would you like to come to our dojo after school and Host Club?"

"You want me to visit you at your dojo? Why?"

"Well how else am I going to spend time with my BFF? We don't have any classes and you don't want to do Host Club."

"Wouldn't Takashi be your BFF?"

"I can have more than one BFF. So will you come!?" Honey asked hopefully.

"Sure, I'd love to come."

"Really? Yay! You can join the class if you too if you wanna. I'm teaching tonight 'cause my dad's busy."

'I believe I'm the sensei here, not you brat,' Ichiro thought sourly, "Yeah sure, but I'm gonna be late if I don't hurry, so see you later Mitsukuni."

"See you later Ichiro-kun!"

'Insufferable brat,' Ichiro thought as he finished the walk to his class.

Then once again he was sitting through another subject that did nothing more than bore him; though at least he could laugh at the stupidity of the methods being explained. All this stuff about prosecutors and defense attorneys and so on, and he continued to find it amusing that Japan felt it necessary to kill those who committed murder, but not those who commit 'lesser crimes'. Ichiro felt the punishment of death should be all or nothing. 'If they don't have the strength to kill everyone who breaks the law, then they might as well commit fully to wasting resources on penning them in like sheep.'

Halfway through class he noticed Haruhi also in the room, and considerably more focused than he was. She wanted to be a lawyer, so it was definitely reasonable that she would be in law. 'Such a shame she wastes her talents on such a ridiculous career path. If she could be convinced to join us we could put her potential to good use,' he thought as class ended and he made his way towards his final class, which was mathematics. 'Perhaps I could focus on removing that disgusting father of hers from the picture. The world doesn't need such blatant disregard for roles.'

Ichiro actually didn't mind math, specifically geometry. It was easy enough and yet still offered him more of an opportunity than any of his other classes to think. He also allowed himself to cut loose a little, instead of holding back. It wouldn't be suspicious if he excelled at one class, as long as it was only by a little bit. Either way it felt good to not hold back his brain as much.

'Maybe I should watch the angle at which the blood spurts out of the next criminal scum I kill,' he thought as he finished his work, leaving a good fifteen minutes of class left. Once again he was bored, but he would get to set off his trap soon so he had something to look forward to. Though perhaps on a more serious note there was this Order of Steel who'd managed to infiltrate his home, was aware of the Society of Shadows, and had their own designs for the world.

At last the bell rang and Ichiro hurried out, glad to finally be free of class. Now he had to get down to the unused classroom where the Kaneko Club took place, and wait to spring his trap on the Host Club. He also hoped the girls would all be there in time to watch him spring it. "Emiko will love it," he said to himself, "I might have to convince Chiharu that it's harmless though."

When he got to the classroom and took a seat at the professor's desk he immediately grabbed a small laptop from his bag and, after powering it up, plugged his scanner into it so that he'd have a bigger screen to view the music room from. Plus his laptop had a built in projector so if he really needed to he could make the view even larger, but it would be too public for his tastes. A few seconds later he had images of the music room streaming to his computer from the cameras. The room was empty though, meaning the Host Club hadn't arrived yet. "I know what our club can do!" he cried suddenly.

"What can our club do?" Emiko asked, entering the room, "I thought we were going to try the PE thing."

"We'll make it cosplay. People can come here and cosplay or interact with cosplayers, just an excuse to dress up and roleplay," Ichiro explained, "What'cha think?"

"Can we have a sports themed event?" Emiko asked.

"Sure, don't see why not."

"Works for me then. We might want to find a slightly larger room though."

"Yeah I suppose," Ichiro agreed, "I'll deal with that tomorrow. In the meantime there're some fireworks I've prepared."

"What do you mean?"

"A little prank I cooked up for the Host Club."

"You set a prank?" Emiko asked, "You're even more awesome than I thought."

"Why thank you Emiko," replied Ichiro. "Hey Akeno!" he added, not even looking up from his computer.

"How do you do that?" Akeno asked, entering the classroom.

"He's awesome, that's how," Emiko said.

"Thanks Emiko. I was going to say a magician never reveals his secret, but that works as well."

"What're you doing?" Akeno asked, moving around to join Emiko looking over his shoulder at the laptop. "Is that Music Room Three?"

"It is, I cooked up a little surprise for the pretty boys."

"What kind of surprise?"

"The practical joke kind," Emiko answered, "Isn't he cool? He pulls pranks, he kicks ass, and he likes sports."

"Alright, settle down Emiko. I appreciate the compliments, but you're distracting me."

"I like the display, it's so clear. Where did you get your cameras?" Akeno asked.

"I built them. They're pretty heavily reliant on the program I have that runs them. Without my computer they do absolutely nothing, it's the cost of having them small I guess."

"I didn't know you were that smart."

"I think Mitsukuni is a testament to never judge a book by a cover, and in many ways I'm quite the same."

"Only better," Emiko added.

'I'm glad Emiko knows quality when she sees it,' Ichiro thought gladly.

Chiharu, Keiko and Hana arrived shortly after and Ichiro quickly brought them up to date. As he'd expected Chiharu seemed a bit hesitant to approve of what he was doing, but she seemed to give in after a number of assurances that nobody would get hurt. By this time he could see Tamaki had arrived and was beginning to set things up, and singing some kind of romantic song where, instead of the girl in the original lyrics, he'd say Haruhi instead.

"Wow, subtle," Ichiro muttered, "Good thing she's not there to hear it."

"Yes he is quite the buffoon, no matter how well he thinks he hides it," Hana said.

"What are you going to do to them exactly?" Chiharu asked.

"Come now Chiharu, where would the fun be if I told you that?" Ichiro asked. Before she could answer he quickly shifted the topic to his idea for what the Kaneko Club could do.

"Cosplay club hm?" Chiharu said, "That sounds like it could be fun."

"I'm afraid it'll take a couple weeks for me to find a larger location for us to use, and then to properly set it up."

They waited and watched as the other boys, and Haruhi of course, entered the music room and helped finish setting up. From there they proceeded to don pirate costumes of various kinds. Tamaki in a fancy frock coat and cravat, Kyoya in a dark suit and hat, Honey in a simple shirt and shorts as a cabin boy, the twins in wrinkled shirts that were partially open, Mori in just pants and a sash and no shirt, and Haruhi in a simple waistcoat, frilly shirt and pants like Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island. Honey and Mori also wore bandanas on their heads.

"Hm, pirate theme, I'll have to keep that in mind," Ichiro muttered.

"By the way I'm not wearing any dresses," Emiko said, "In fact I call dibs on Jim Hawkins."

"Aw, but wouldn't I make an adorable Jim?" Ichiro asked.

"I would've thought you'd want to be captain," Akeno said.

"That's… true," replied Ichiro. "There's Mitsukuni, that little brat," he added, looking at senior now dressed as a cabin boy. "How I would love to prove who the greatest martial artist in Japan truly is."

"Wait really? I thought you like your privacy," Emiko said.

"I do, but… well my father and grandfather, the two who taught me, told me to never show my skills to their fullest extent. They didn't want anyone to think I was some kind of weapon. And they really don't want the attention. So I just went along with it; but sometimes I get sick of having to keep it secret, even if it does allow me privacy."

"Wow," each of the girls replied.

"So you like being private, but you also sometimes want to show everyone your skills, but you're not allowed," Akeno summed up.

"Well _we_ know you're better than Honey," said Hana, "So you at least have that."

"Yeah," Ichiro replied, feeling oddly better.

He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt a lot more comfortable. It was true, they did know about his skills, and they were the only people outside the Society who knew. And it felt good to have people he could feel… relaxed around. They understood him, even if he wasn't telling them the truth, and when he was with them he almost felt like his 'student act' was actually genuine. Part of him was disturbed by that, but another part of him actually felt pleased to feel that way. Yet it went against every single thing he'd been told. 'But if I'm perfect, then maybe it doesn't matter. I'll always be right,' he thought, 'And there's something special about these girls that has made me like them. They're just better than all the worthless rich trash here, and when the time comes they'll be by my side as the world is reborn.'

"Look, there's guests coming in," Emiko said.

Ichiro shook himself out of his thoughts and watched as the Host Club welcomed their first guests for the day. The entire Kaneko Club was watching in anticipation as Host Club activities picked up. Ichiro saw Honey eat his cake, and grinned. "We might not get to see the full results of that, but that cake I laced with an emetic," Ichiro explained, "Needless to say that he'll have to exit to the bathroom in about thirty minutes."

"How did you manage that?" Akeno asked.

Ichiro gently grabbed her chin and smiled "Don't underestimate me sweet Akeno. New World Tech does many wonderful things."

"Your family owns New World Tech?" Akeno asked as Ichiro let her go.

"Yes, didn't I mention that?"

The girls shook their heads and Ichiro shrugged, "Well yeah, I do. What you'll be seeing here is a little treat whipped up for riot control, primarily intended for use in the Middle East."

The Host Club was in full swing now and everyone was seated, except Haruhi who was waiting the tables. Ichiro waited until she was out of range and then pressed the button on his scanner that activated the pellets. Almost immediately the music room was filled with masses of white-yellow foam that looked sort of like the kind in fire extinguishers. The girls squealed and the boys cried out in surprise.

Most of the foam ended up going on the floor, but some of it wrapped around parts of bodies, and almost everyone's feet ended up encapsulated in the stuff. Of course they quickly got to their feet and began to move towards the door, but their footsteps were already becoming difficult as the foam became like glue, and then like some sort of clear, cement-plastic mix, trapping them to the floor or causing them to topple over, and a whole variety of other hilarious actions.

The entire Kaneko Club was laughing at the spectacle, with Emiko practically rolling, and even Chiharu and Hana were trying to keep themselves together. Even Keiko was breaking her usual silence with some laughing, and Ichiro was glad to see it. "See Chiharu, it all worked out fine."

"How're they going to get out?" she asked through giggles.

"You'd be surprised. The riot foam is actually vulnerable to acetic acid," Ichiro said, "Even in diluted form."

"You mean vinegar?" Akeno asked.

"That would be the diluted form, yes. It's one of the reasons the foam hasn't been deployed, we're not sure if it being vulnerable to a household substance is such a good thing. It'd also fall apart over time, but that would take a few hours."

The one problem he was seeing with his plan was that he was the only one who knew how to get rid of the hardened foam, but if he came forward revealing that it'd be obvious he'd set it up. So he'd need a way to make it seem like he was discovering things as he went along. "Emiko, you seem to know a lot of people," he said, "Think you can get one of them to go to Music Room Three?"

"Why?"

"Because I need to make sure I'm not suspected of this, and if I appeared there now it might seem too obvious."

"Problem solved," Emiko said, "My friend Rin wanted to see if the hype held up and she just walked in to the music room."

"Well we'll go have a look ourselves then," Ichiro said, quickly shutting down his laptop and pocketing his scanner.

As they walked down he held back with Keiko. He felt like she could use some company, though he still didn't know why he cared. "Ichiro-san," she said quietly.

"Me? –san?" Ichiro stuttered with surprise, "Cool. What is it?"

"Are you jealous of Honey-senpai?" Keiko asked.

"Me? Jealous of that twerp?" Ichiro asked.

"The way you were talking before, it sounded like jealousy. It's the only way I could describe it."

"I- uh- we're almost there," he stuttered, honestly at a loss for words.

There was no other way he could describe it either, but there was simply no way he could admit that he was jealous of a little rabbit, gender-confused brat.

He quickly moved to the front of the group as they came across a small group of students standing outside the wide open music room doors and looking at the spectacle of all its inhabitants trapped in what looked like dried glue. The sight of it in person was almost enough to make Ichiro laugh again. "What's going on in here?" he asked, trying to control his laughter.

"Ichiro-kun! Help please!" Honey called, held by the foam to his chair, half-sitting and half-standing.

"I would if I knew how," Ichiro replied.

He looked around at the rest of the room; Tamaki was mostly glued flat to the floor, with his butt in the air like he'd slumped to the ground, the twins were rather tangled, with Kaoru's face almost covered by Hikaru's back, Kyoya was rather fused to his table, and Haruhi was stuck on all fours were broken glasses surrounding her. Only Mori seemed to be largely unstuck, with on his feet glued to the floor. The girls around the room were mostly tangled up or stuck in similar ways to Tamaki.

"It looks like… dried glue or tree sap," one of the people at the door said.

"Well let's see," Ichiro, kneeling down and using his scanner on it.

"What are you doing with your phone?" Akeno asked.

"It's not just a phone; it's also a material analyzer. They're kind of a staple amongst the higher ups at New World Tech, my dad gave me one merged with a cellphone because he wanted me to learn what materials go into various pieces of technology so I'd have a better understanding of things around me."

"And what does it say?" Haruhi asked from nearby.

"It says it's congealed foam with a weakness to acetic acid," Ichiro replied, showing Haruhi what it said on the screen.

"It also says that it'll fall apart over the course of several hours," Haruhi observed.

"I can't be here for several hours!" Tamaki cried, "My arms are getting sore, I have an itch on my nose, I have to go to the bathroom and…"

Ichiro began blocking him out after that, so he wasn't sure what he whining about. "Guess we just need a crap load of vinegar then," Ichiro said. "Oh yeah!"

He grabbed a small bottle of vinegar out of his bag, opened the cap and began to squirt it on the foam holding Haruhi down. "Why do you have a bottle of vinegar in your bag?" she asked.

"Because I was thinking of getting fish and chips from this cool little British-themed place I saw on my way home last night, and I wanted to make sure I had extra vinegar just in case," he explained, which actually wasn't a lie for a change. "There, can you move your hands?"

The vinegar made the hardened foam liquid again, and was thinner than when it began to harden. Haruhi was able to move her hands again and Ichiro quickly went to work on her knees and the tips of her shoes. "Oh and just between you and me," he whispered, "This foam was my prank, but don't tell anyone."

"You set this up?" Haruhi replied quietly, "How? Why?"

"I'm a magician Haruhi, so I can't tell you how. Why? Because I wanted to have a little fun."

"But-"

"I'll explain more later, but I'm sorry you got caught in it," he said quickly, "And there, you should be able to get free now."

Haruhi stood up, albeit with some of the foam still clinging to her, but it would crumble given time, and once the foam had fallen apart it could be washed or swept or vacuumed away. But Ichiro had also used most of his vinegar to free Haruhi, and he did still want some for his fish, so he had to move onto phase one of the clean-up. "Okay Haruhi, Emiko and Chiharu, you three go get a couple jugs of vinegar. "Hana, Keiko and Akeno, you three go grab sponges or clothes or something," Ichiro ordered, to which his club agreed and Haruhi was dragged off by Emiko before she could agree or disagree.

With them gone, and the crowd beginning to dissipate Ichiro grabbed a chair, took a seat and said "And I'll keep you guys company."


	7. Chapter 8

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 5**

"So how're you doing today ladies?" Ichiro asked the poor girls stuck to the floor.

"Quite well until this happened," one of them replied.

"But even stuck to the floor you're all still really pretty," Ichiro said with a wink.

"Aww, thank you um… what's your name?"

"Ichiro Kaneko, nice to meet'cha ladies," he replied cheerily, "I'd shake your hand but well... obviously."

Instead he blew a kiss at each of them. "Sorry, but that's the best greeting I can give."

"It's okay," each of the girls said.

"Hey! You said you were going to keep us company! Stop messing with my guests!" Tamaki yelled.

"I'm going around the room," Ichiro replied.

He prepared to return to the girls, but noticed Honey beginning to look a bit pale. He wouldn't be outright feeling nauseous, but he would be feeling… off. "Hang on ladies," Ichiro said, rushing to move a trash can closer to Honey.

"How did you know my tummy felt icky?" Honey asked.

"You're looking paler than usual," Ichiro replied simply, "Are you okay?"

"I think there was something in that cake," Honey sobbed, "How could cake ever do something mean to me?"

'I really hate you,' Ichiro thought.

"It'll be okay Mitsukuni," Mori said, "Just take deep breaths and try to remain calm."

"He's right Mitsukuni," Ichiro added. "Tell you what," he began, grabbing his chair and moving it to be right beside his 'friend', "Since Takashi can't help you out properly; I'll sit here with you in his place"

"Thanks Ichiro-kun," Honey sobbed.

"Well we're bffs right?" Ichiro said, patting Honey on the back. "How about I tell you all a story to pass the time?"

"Storytime?" Honey asked, sounding excited in the midst of his nausea.

"Yup! So let me see… oh I know. This is a story my dad told me when I was younger.

"Once, long ago there was a town deep in the mountains of modern day Kazakhstan. For many years this town had lived in peace and harmony, gladly treating others with kindness and helping those in need. It could almost be called a utopia.

"Then, one day, a tall warrior in dark armour appeared. He challenged the strongest in the town to a contest, with the settlement was stakes. If he won, then the village would belong to him, if not then he would take his leave. Of course in this village of peace there weren't many who were ready to deal with such a battle worn man, and so the warrior bested the village's strongest with ease and took it over.

"For many years he ruled arrogantly and with great disdain for the town, caring only about what they could do for him. But arrogance breeds complacency, and the longer the warrior ruled unopposed the surer of his power he became, and the less observant he became of threats. So naturally his downfall approached unnoticed from under his nose."

Ichiro paused as Honey vomited and he did what little he could to comfort him. "You know he actually doesn't tell half-bad stories," he heard one of the twins mutter, apparently thinking he was too quiet to hear.

"This threat to his power," Ichiro began again, "Came in the form of the blacksmith's son. This boy, grown strong from learning his father's craft also forged himself a sword and bided his time, waiting and learning all he could about the warrior through observation. It took time, many years in fact, but the boy grew stronger and more skilled, and he knew his enemy.

"And so, on his sixteenth birthday the boy challenged the warrior to combat, with the town's freedom on the line. The warrior accepted, and the battle began. To begin with the boy let his opponent think he had the upper hand. This was merely a ruse, however, with the intent of putting the warrior off guard.

"Then, just when the warrior's victory seemed assured, the boy sprang into action, striking his elder opponent's weak points, dodging his blows, and in the end subduing him. Though the boy could've killed the man, he wanted to let him live with the lesson that arrogance will, in the end, lead to one's own demise, and that there's always someone stronger, smarter or more skilled out there.

"In the end the town had its freedom, and it maintained it as it vanished into the mists of time."

"You're a good storyteller," Honey said, heaving but not puking.

"Thanks Mitsukuni. Are you feeling any better?"

"No, my tummy still hurts."

"Oh dear, should someone call your father and let him know you might not be able to teach today?"

"Already taken care of," Mori said simply, putting away his phone.

"Wow."

'Okay credit where credit is due, that was actually pretty good for a rich, outsider piece of garbage,' Ichiro thought.

"If you need a replacement teacher, I might know someone," Ichiro added cheerily.

"Really? You know someone?" Honey asked, as cheerily as he could manage.

"Sort of. He's a… well he's sort of this special operations member, SAS in fact. That's pretty much all I'm even allowed to say."

"He won't make it all the way from England in a couple hours," Honey pointed out.

"I really can't say much more about him. He had interests in NWT's developments for military applications, so he came here to meet with my dad."

"Oh, okay."

Ichiro, beginning to get sick of sitting still, got to his feet and did a few backflips in a space not covered by hardened riot foam. Then a short series of front flips, followed by a series of cartwheels and ended with a handstand. "Excuse me Kaneko, but this room is not a gymnasium," Kyoya said.

"That was good!" Tamaki said, "Oh right I can't cheer cause I'm stuck to the floor."

"I was just stretching," Ichiro said, "I'm getting sick of sitting here."

"At least you're not stuck to the floor," Kaoru pointed out.

"I suppose, but you guys sit around here all afternoon anyways, the only difference is you can't move around the room and you can't be near those gorgeous ladies over in the corner."

He was also beginning to lose interest in hanging around with the Host Club. It was fine when there were girls around and plenty of activity to distract him, but with just the boys around, the six boys he hated most in the world, and only three girls who he could really care less about being stuck to the floor, he was losing his patience. Nonetheless he rushed to Honey's side when he wretched again. 'You won't throw up as long as there's nothing in your stomach,' Ichiro thought, 'But this will last several hours, much like a real flu.'

Finally, after another twenty minutes, the girls returned with two jugs of vinegar and sponges, and a bucket. "Sorry we took so look Ichiro," Emiko said, "We had to go through traffic with these vinegar jugs and it was a bit of a walk."

"That's fine," Ichiro said, dashing over and picking up the vinegar filled bucket with relative ease. "Now one thing before we get started."

Ichiro turned to Kyoya with the vinegar in hand with a grin. "You know Kyoya, this works out well for me. I was going to point out that by agreeing to your request to sit beside Mitsukuni I had ceased to actually be a volunteer and was properly working for the Host Club. But this offers a much quicker resolution than a legal back-and-forth. Pay me twenty percent of the profits from the picture or I leave the Host Club, barring Honey who's sick, to sit here until this stuff crumbles on its own, which will take several hours."

That someone was actually blackmailing Kyoya seemed to be rather shocking, because it seemed like most of the room gasped and held its breath while Kyoya tried to stare down Ichiro and Ichiro held his gaze firmly. "Come on Kyoya! Pay the guy his money, I want to stand up!" Tamaki begged, while the Kaneko Club went to work on getting the girls free.

"I'm actually with Tamaki for once," the twins said together.

There was a continued pause until, at last, with extreme reluctance Kyoya said, "Fine."

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Ichiro asked.

He went to work on Kyoya, while Emiko and Akeno had moved on to Honey and Mori, Haruhi was holding a Tupperware box of vinegar and working on Tamaki, Keiko and Chiharu worked on the twins, and Hana looked like she was trying not to get dirty as she just carried a jug to where it was needed. The end result of them working together was the Host Club was freed of the riot foam, though were all still rather dirty from the remains of it. "There we go, barring the fact this room smells like a pickle I think we did a good job," Ichiro said, "I'd advise you to all go home and shower and get your uniforms washed."

"You don't need to tell me twice," one of the girls said, "Thank you for keeping us company Ichiro, you're very sweet."

"Aww, thanks girls," Ichiro said, blowing all three of them a kiss as they left.

"And you're sure this stuff will just crumble away after a couple hours?" Tamaki asked.

"Yup. Might want to run a vacuum over the rug though, there'll be rather a lot of dust."

"I guess I'll just have to make sure the janitor comes by then."

Everyone else filtered out, Honey being carried by Mori, until all that was left was Kyoya and the Kaneko Club. "As it turns out Kaneko, the picture in question sold quite quickly for about seven hundred thousand American dollars. I'll write you a check for a hundred and forty thousand shall I?" he said, sounding like he was trying very hard to remain formal and polite.

"That would be lovely," Ichiro replied.

"Did you perhaps have anything to do with the setup of this in the first place?"

"Perhaps I did," said Ichiro cheerily, "Perhaps I didn't. One of the joys of knowing me is that there's always something new to learn."

"Indeed. I think it's best I make it clear now that, while I hold to arrangements, I do not like you and I only tolerate your presence out of respect for Honey-senpai who clearly has taken a shine to you," Kyoya explained, handing Ichiro the check.

"That's perfectly alright. With our business concluded I intend to spend after-school hours indulging in other pursuits that do not require coming into contact with the Host Club. Good day Kyoya."

And with that Ichiro left the music room, and together with the girls made his way towards the nearest sink, which was in a bathroom, where he poured out the bucket while Emiko rinsed the sponges in the girl's bathroom. When he came out he saw Haruhi had turned up again. "Hey Haruhi, what's up?" he asked.

"I was actually wondering if I could have the rest of the vinegar," she said, gesturing to the still full jug Chiharu held, left unopened due to lack of necessity. "I've been meaning to get some and that would probably last us a while."

"Oh sure! Let me grab my bag and I'll help you carry it home."

"That's really not necessary," Haruhi protested.

"No, I insist. Plus I've made poor Chiharu hold it this whole time."

"I'll hang onto it until you get back," Chiharu offered.

The rest of the Kaneko Club pointed out that they needed to get home, and so they told Ichiro good-night and headed off. Chiharu and Haruhi made their way down to the front of the school while Ichiro quickly grabbed his bag and rushed down to meet them, calling in a lift from his chauffeur. By the time he made it down to the front entrance of the school, the car was pulling into the drive.

"Here's our ride," Ichiro said, joining the girls and taking the jug from Chiharu whose own ride just arrived.

"Just a normal car?" Haruhi asked, which it largely was, just a normal mini-van.

"Well I figured you wouldn't want something conspicuous, so I had my chauffeur just bring a more or less normal car."

"Well thank you," Haruhi said, getting into the car.

"Never think you know everything about me," Ichiro cautioned, sitting beside her in the back instead of in the front passenger seat.

"With the rich kids I'm beginning to learn that more and more, so I'll keep that in mind."

"We're bringing Haruhi home first," said Ichiro to his chauffeur, who began driving.

Haruhi was largely a quiet person, so Ichiro found the drive to be mostly silent. At points she would direct the driver towards her home, but that was about it. She was a likeable person, and since she was middle-class Ichiro really had no qualms with her whatsoever. He enjoyed her company almost as much as he enjoyed the Kaneko Club's.

"So Ichiro… did you have something to do with rigging the room with that stuff?" Haruhi asked bluntly.

"I won't deny it."

"So you did?"

"I didn't say that. I just said I won't deny it. I won't confirm it either. It was probably just a prank without any serious harm intended."

"I'm getting the sense it was you."

"If that's what you want to think. But if I don't confirm it or deny it, then if asked you can't say you know," Ichiro said with a grin. "Get it?"

"Yeah I think I do. Oh my home is just down this street here."

The car came to a halt outside the same apartment complex that Ichiro had killed the Yakuza guard on top of. "I'm on the second floor; do you still want to carry that jug?"

"It's fine. I'm stronger than I look," Ichiro assured, easily hefting the jug under his arm and following Haruhi up the stairs to her door and carrying the jug to the cupboard she pointed out in the kitchen.

"Is that you Haruhi?" came a voice from a room in the back, a man's voice that sounded like it wanted to be a woman's.

'Oh no,' Ichiro thought sourly.

"Yeah dad, someone from school gave me a ride home," Haruhi explained quickly, "Would you like to meet my dad since you're here?" she added.

"No, I really have to be going," replied Ichiro hurriedly.

"Oh nonsense!" her father said, appearing from what Ichiro assumed was his room. "You gave my little girl a ride home; you deserve my thanks in person."

The man who was Haruhi's father was dressed in a woman's business uniform, with curled brown hair and make-up. The very sight made Ichiro want to vomit; that someone would step so blatantly outside of the role they were intended for was utterly repulsive. But he liked Haruhi, and he didn't want to offend her, so he kept his objections to himself. "Well aren't you an adorable young man, are you really in high school?"

"Yes. I'm Ichiro Kaneko; I share a class with Haruhi. For a certain task towards the end of the day I'd gotten some vinegar, and there was a lot left over, Haruhi wanted it, so I brought it, and her."

"Well thank you for your generosity Ichiro-chan-"

"Kun, please, I don't like 'chan'."

"Ichiro-kun. I'm Ryouji Fujioka, or you can call me Ranka."

"Ryouji-san, I'm always happy to give Haruhi a lift home and to help her whenever she needs help."

"Polite and good-looking, you're a fine catch. I was just about to head out for work, and I really should get going. So thank you again. See you later Haruhi!" Ranka added.

"See you later dad!" Haruhi called out.

"What about you?" Ranka asked.

"I would just like to wait until Haruhi's finished changing so I can say good-bye to her face," Ichiro said.

"Alright, see you then."

Once he'd left Ichiro took to wandering the apartment a bit to pass time. He didn't go into any rooms with closed doors, he wasn't there to snoop. The only thing that he came across that was really interesting was a shrine to Haruhi's mother; just a very small cabinet with some pictures in it. The sight of such a thing made Ichiro feel strange though; like some part of his brain had hit a snag. He had no idea what was bugging him though, something just wasn't processing. 'So even though her mother died, she still has a little something to remember her by,' he thought, 'That seems so… simple, but it also seems like it would be effective in helping to retain a memory.'

"Ichiro?" Haruhi said, breaking through his thoughts.

She was no longer dressed in her uniform, instead wearing a basic pink t-shirt and white knee pants. "You found the shrine to my mom."

"Yeah… I wonder what it's like having a mom," Ichiro mused.

"What do you mean?"

"I've never known my mom. It's always just been my servants, and rarely my dad," Ichiro explained, and he wasn't lying about a single word for a change, "She just sort of vanished when I was barely finished weaning. My dad told me to not ask questions about it, and there are no pictures around, and even most of my servants arrived after she left or simply never met her. I really don't know who she is, or if she's still alive. She could live in this building for all I know, and we wouldn't recognize each other."

Haruhi placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "I'm not sure I can say anything, but I'm sorry you've had to grow up that way."

"It's fine," Ichiro said, "I've just accepted it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm fine. So, do you want me to drive you anywhere else?"

"No, I just need to get a few things for dinner and I need the exercise. Didn't someone say you had to get a replacement teacher for Honey-senpai?"

"Oh yeah! I'll have to get going. See you later Haruhi," he said cheerily as he dashed out the door and to the car.

"Let's go, I'm going to teach at the Haninozuka dojo. I have to get dressed," Ichiro said, "Some martial arts will be just what I need to clear my head.


	8. Chapter 9

**Arc 2**

**Chapter 6**

Almost as soon as Ichiro was back in the car he made the call to have his serving as a replacement teacher arranged. The position was quite easily obtained; the short notice of Honey's illness and his father's current absence would've lead to the class simply being cancelled and re-scheduled. So Ichiro hadn't been home long before one of his servants informed him that he'd been accepted as a replacement teacher. Of course he wasn't going under his real name. He used his title and codename instead; Legate.

"Sir," one of his servants asked while he suited up, "What purpose does this serve exactly?"

"I'd like to see some of the enemy territory first-hand, and I get a free practice session out of it," Ichiro explained, his face already concealed and his voice now distorted by his rebreather.

"You take a great many risks doing this."

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't exist in this guise. There are no risks."

"If you say so."

Ichiro, fully suited up, went down to the tunnels, though this time instead of walking he mounted a sort of hovering snowmobile without treads or skis and sped through the tunnels. He didn't want to use any other method of transportation out of fear of being traceable. So instead he took the hovermobile through the darkness, using his scanner to guide him to the closest point to the Haninozuka Dojo he could find.

When he arrived there and surface, he found that he was quite near a park-like location, with walls around it and a sign that quite blatantly said 'Haninozuka Dojo'. 'Closer than I thought I was,' Ichiro thought.

With ease he made it over the wall, using his grappling gun to reach the top, then silently dropping down inside. To characterize the location purely as a dojo would be incorrect, he felt, as there was just as much mansion on the property as dojo. In fact, although the dojo was closer to the entrance, the manor dominated it easily.

A quick sprint across the lawn and firing his grappling hook saw him on top of the roof from which he dropped down to land in front of the door where he knocked. One the Haninozuka servants opened the door, Ichiro had no idea who, nor did he really care. "Are you the-"

"Replacement teacher, I cannot use me real name so just call me Legate," Ichiro said.

"Oh, yes sir. The class has been waiting, it's just inside."

Ichiro entered the dojo, while the servant left, sliding the door shut behind him. Ichiro quickly looked around, surveying his surroundings and mapping them in his head in a matter of seconds. It was big, which was a plus. It had visible rafters, also a plus. And it had people, a number of young men, in their early twenties, wearing white dogis with blue belts. 'So they're advanced, that's good to know.'

He strolled towards the row of young men, all kneeling. In a sudden flurry of movement, so fast it was difficult to see, Ichiro brought his foot right across one man's face, proceeding with a flurry of punches before finishing with a final kick that sent him sprawling. "What… the hell!?" the man asked as he gasped to catch his breath.

"You didn't even give him time to prepare," another man protested, jumping to his feet.

"Yeah, what was that for!?"

"Waiting for him to prepare?" Ichiro scoffed, "Do you think the armed thugs will wait for you to prepare? Do you think a rival army will wait for you to prepare?"

"This is still a class an-"

"The purpose of a class is to teach," Ichiro countered, "I just taught you that none of you know how to truly be prepared. You want your opponent to wait for you. Instead you must be prepared before him. You must always be prepared. That is part of being a fighter; to be ready to fight no matter how suddenly one appears."

The class was silent, and Ichiro could sense their fear and uncertainty. They were afraid of him, what he'd done to the man who was still recovering had created that feeling, and they weren't certain what was coming. However they'd protested his treatment of one of their number, instead of cowering, and Ichiro liked to see that in potential warriors. 'Perhaps they can be converted,' he thought darkly. "Your teachers have taught you poorly, but their stupidity is not yet yours. Everyone give me a hundred push ups, and then split into pairs. But remember, don't let your opponent prepare. The moment you are all finished warm up is the moment you begin sparring."

There was a brief pause from the class before they dropped to the ground and began their push-ups. 'The Haninozukas get credit for making malleable students,' he thought, 'Or Maybe I just got lucky.'

After the push-ups the young men all paused for a moment, looking nervous, before striking at the first person they could reach. They'd quickly divided into sparring pairs and Ichiro was at least pleased to see they were each equally matched for one another. They were sloppy, but at least they were all definitely on the same level. But fighting others of the same skill-level wouldn't see them improve. "Switch!" Ichiro cried after about ten minutes of sparring. "New partners, now."

The group shifted and this time Ichiro could see a slight unevenness in skill level between the partners. It wasn't significant for his liking though. They'd initially paired with people who they were familiar sparring with. Now they'd switched to people they must not spar with as often. But this lesson was going nowhere. They weren't fighting with motivation. 'Of course!' Ichiro though, 'I'm merely a substitute teacher, so they're simply attempting to satisfy me until I'm gone. Our motivation was to impress our masters, but that motivation is gone when their masters are someone else.'

"Alright!" he cried, "It's clear you're not trying to improve. I won't be teaching any new techniques to you, that is for your regular teachers to do. But you clearly need further motivation than you currently have. You should at least be improving your existing skills, and yet all I see is attempts to not be punished."

The whole group suddenly looked nervous. They knew what Ichiro's punishment was, they'd seen it, and none of them wanted to find out personally what it was like. "So what would be the best way to give you all motivation," he mused, "You are all to spar with each other again, in a tournament style this time. The victors will face each other and continue to do so until there is only one person remaining. That person will get to leave early. The rest… get to see me."

There was a collective gulp as everyone eyed each other, this time picking their targets carefully before jumping into battle. The fighting was much more vicious this time, which is what Ichiro wanted to see. This time they were trying to outdo each other, and after only a minute or two the first couple people were thrown to the ground by their opponent. They looked on in fright as Ichiro crossed the room with blinding speed and smashed them in the head, knocking them out. "And that's what happens when you lose."

Ichiro's little tournament continued in this manner for about twenty minutes, each time someone was thrown to the ground, Ichiro knocked them out cold. At last there was only one combatant standing, looking proud that he wasn't about to face Ichiro. "Well done," the suited boy said, "You worked to improve with what you have. Continue to do so and you may yet be useful."

"Wha-what's going on in here!?" came the high, boyish voice of Honey.

Ichiro looked to the doorway to see the blond boy standing there in his dogi and black belt, looking in shock and horror at the unconscious students. "Mitsukuni! I was told you were sick."

"I felt good enough to come down here, but what did you-"

"They failed to improve," the victorious student said, "Unconsciousness was the price of failure."

"That is essentially correct," Ichiro explained, "We had a bit of a tournament with some motivation to improve. They will be fine, but hopefully they will remember that failure to improve has a price."

"Wha-? I… you're mean!" Honey cried.

"This isn't a knitting class," replied Ichiro simply. "As to my victorious student; if you wish to truly improve your fighting skills beyond what these meagre excuses for martial artists can teach you, then come here," he added, handing the young man a business card. "They train hard, but I think you have great potential."

"Uh," the man stuttered taking the card and reading it, "Yeah, I think I will. I've never progressed this much in one night. Thanks Legate."

He slipped on his shoes and left, leaving Ichiro grinning behind his mask. "You see shrimp; the ones who succeed are the ones who understand what power is," he explained to Honey, "That's something you have to look for, not something you can train. Have fun waking up the rejects," he added, pushing past Honey.

"Stop!" Honey yelled, an unusual commanding note in his voice, though Ichiro found it amusing.

"Yes?" Ichiro asked.

"You beat up my students, steal one of them, lecture me, and think you can just leave!?" he asked angrily.

"I would say… yes. If you're simply going to yell at me, then I'll just be on my way."

Honey viciously, and quickly, spun around with a kick ready, only for Ichiro to catch his foot and in an even quicker movement hurl him against the wall they were next to. "I hope that's not the best you can do," Ichiro said, "I expected the 'great Mitsukuni Haninozuka' to be a bit more skilled than that."

Honey was already back in a fighting stance though and eying his masked opponent with determination. "Ah I see; you wish to fight me," Ichiro said, bursting with joy inside, "Let's see just what you've got."

The two warriors clashed in a flurry of high speed jabs, kicks and other moves and techniques. It would take a keen eye to see all their movements and the most that could be seen was when one of them backflipped or jumped away from a strike. Ichiro had to admit that Honey was definitely skilled, perhaps skilled enough to be a low-ranking Society of Shadows member. It was the best martial arts workout he'd had since being placed on his current assignment, and he was enjoying every second of it.

But it couldn't last forever. Ichiro needed to get home and he could see Honey was still weak from the emetic, and weakening from the blows that had connected, bearing several bruises and hiding a twisted ankle. Stepping up his game he jumped and somersaulted right over his elder opponent's head and kicked him hard in the back as soon as he landed. The force of Ichiro's full strength sent Honey sprawling and a second later Ichiro drove his knee into the older boy's back, hard enough to wind him. "Well," he began, grabbing Honey's head by his hair as the students began to awaken. "That was fun little Mitsukuni, but as you can see there is only _one_ martial arts master in this pathetic little country. And that's me. Be glad I'm letting you off with a few bruises."

"You're a bully," Honey coughed, impressing Ichiro with his recovery, but prompting him to smash Honey's head into the floor.

"I'm your superior. I'll leave you with that knowledge for now, and this knowledge; this could have ended much worse for you."

Ichiro dropped Honey's head and, with a final kick to his ribs, he left the dojo and grappled to the roof. From there he slipped away and by the time Honey had recovered enough to look for him, he was slipping into the tunnels and well out of sight.

When he returned home, Ichiro was glowing as he took his suit off and changed into black pajama pants and a black t-shirt. "Hello Ryu!" he said to one of his servants cheerily.

"Um, Master Kaneko?" the man replied, confused.

"I'm in the mood for something chocolate-y," Ichiro said, "Bring it to me."

"Really? I mean, yes sir!"

"I did it! I fought Mitsukuni!" Ichiro cried cheerily, "And I won! I've proven beyond shadow of a doubt that I'm the greatest fighter in Japan!"

"You fought the boy!?" another servant asked.

"He wouldn't let me leave if I didn't, he wasn't happy with my teaching methods. Of course I couldn't hurt him too badly, but still, now he knows he's not number one."

"But he doesn't know _you're_ number one either," this servant pointed out, he was actually a boy about Honey's age, but much older physically, "All he knows is a short secret agent is number one. And for all he knows that secret agent is a thirty-year old little person in the British SAS."

Normally this kind of comment would've been harshly punished, but Ichiro was in too good a mood to bother. It wasn't whether or not Honey knew it was him; just the fact that Ichiro knew was good enough. And he was glad Honey wasn't a pushover as well, because that would've made everything so much hollower. No, Honey was a fighter for sure. And by defeating him Ichiro had proven, to himself more than anything, who the superior fighter truly was.

His servants were smart enough to make sure the 'something chocolate-y', which ended up being cake, was dark chocolate. There was something about the more bitter edge to it that appealed to Ichiro, and when he slept that night he slept quite well. It was the best he'd slept in a long time in fact. And when he woke the next morning his mood was not diminished in the slightest.

It wasn't until he was heading to lunch that something happened to bring him down. That something happened to be Honey, who was looking as bouncy as ever, despite his bruises. "Hey Mitsukuni!" Ichiro said, putting on his 'shota-face'.

"Ichiro-kun, that guy you got was a big meanie," Honey said almost instantly.

"What do you mean? Where'd you get those bruises?"

"Well that's the thing, that guy came to our dojo and knocked out all the students, he said he'd had some kind of tournament. He said he was proving that only the one who wanted power would succeed, gave the last student standing a business card, then tried to leave."

"You didn't let him leave after that did you!?" Ichiro asked incredulously.

"Nuh uh, but we got into a little fight and he, well, beat me."

"You lost a fi-" Ichiro was cut off by Honey covering his mouth with his hand.

"Shh, not so loud Ichiro-kun," Honey said, "I don't want everyone knowing just yet. Just Takashi. I wasn't even going to tell you, but it was your family's friend who did it."

"Why don't you want anyone to know?"

"It's kinda embarrassing," Honey said, "I was still feeling icky from the bad stuff in the cake though."

"You don't really seem that upset about it."

"I'm not! I lost one fight when I wasn't feeling my best. It's no biggie. I'll just keep getting better. As long as I can keep practicing and keep eating cake, and I have Usa-chan and Takashi with me, I'm happy."

"You're happy?" Ichiro asked, feeling like someone had poured ice cubes down his shirt.

"Of course! You'd hafta be really silly to get obsessed with who won a fight you walked away from."

And just like that Ichiro felt his good mood melt away. He'd wanted to humiliate Honey, show him that he was nothing compared to a true fighter. Instead Honey had just accepted it as mildly embarrassing and moved on. That wasn't what he wanted to happen, and almost immediately he could feel his familiar rage building in him. 'So it'll take more than one loss to prove to him that he's a pathetic failure of a human. Fine. I just have to arrange that,' he thought to himself.

'But you can't,' what felt like another voice said, 'You must maintain your cover. You can't break your role just to fight this little boy.'

Then there was a third part of him, apart from his desires and his duty that seemed to speak up. 'And Mitsukuni's your friend,' it said, 'You can't betray him like that.'

Ichiro was appalled at himself for thinking such things. Friendship was useless, and the only ones worthy of possibly being considered 'friends' to him were the girls. To even _consider_ anyone else was preposterous; especially one of the selfish, hateful Host Club members. 'No, I'll just keep waiting. I'm immortal; I'll have all the time in the world.'

"Ichiro-kun?" Honey asked, noticing his silence "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"Oh, okay! So tell your dad to get that bully in trouble okay?"

"I'll try. He _is_ a secret agent though, so he'll be in trouble anyways."

"That's true," replied Honey, "Anyways, I'm gonna go back to Takashi now. See ya!"

Honey ran off and left Ichiro standing there for a time. 'Yes I'll just keep waiting,' Ichiro thought, 'And next time Mitsukuni… next time I'll break you.'


	9. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The next few weeks were busy for Ichiro. He returned to ignoring the Host Club, toying with them had ceased to amuse him for the time. He continued to occasionally speak with Haruhi, but ultimately was too busy with his duties at home, and his studies at school. Not to mentioned he had to go through the paperwork to gain the use of a drama room for the Kaneko Club, not far from the classroom they currently inhabited. So Kaneko Club was meeting less frequently than he'd like, though he still got to be with the girls at lunch.

And in fact most of his duties were reduced to training and mental exercises. His fight with Honey and his presence at the Haninozuka dojo had not gone over well with the Shadow Senate. In fact Shadow Lord Acheron had threatened to have the Emperor himself scold him for his recklessness. So Ichiro had dropped down to performing patrols, and using his stealth to take out targets, and often leaving them alive. He hated it, but he wasn't willing to risk his station for personal enjoyment. He considered only one other person perfect, and that was the Shadow Emperor. Ichiro would never do anything that would displease his monarch, so he continued to be more subdued to prevent creating a scenario that would anger the Emperor.

'But it's boring,' Ichiro thought as he strolled through Ouran's halls towards the drama room after class, quite late too as finishing the paperwork had taken a good hour out of his time.

"Ichiro-kun!" cried a familiar voice.

'Of course,' Ichiro thought bitterly.

One thing he'd found difficult to do was shake Honey. The boy was extremely clingy, and continued to find ways to track him down. In fact it was a daily occurrence that Honey would bump into him somewhere. And yet Ichiro had to continue to maintain his façade so he brought a smile to his fight and replied in a cheery voice; "Hey Mitsukuni."

"What'cha doin'?" he asked.

"I'm heading to the drama room I managed to reserve for the Kaneko Club," replied Ichiro simply.

He had previously asked about Takashi or the Host Club and why Honey wasn't with them, but the older boy always had an excuse or reason, so Ichiro had just given up asking that question. Honey was clever, for a rich scumbag, and Ichiro knew that he could easily find a way to squeeze out for a few minutes. "Oh," Honey replied, "You look kinda bored."

"I always get bored at school, I'd rather be outside skateboarding or something," Ichiro replied casually. "And I'm still setting up my club proper, so that's boring too."

"Wanna hold Usa-chan for a couple minutes? He might cheer you up," Honey offered enthusiastically.

"No thanks," answered Ichiro hurriedly.

"Why not?"

'Because it's an insipid pile of felt and foam that makes you look like even more of an idiot than you already are!' Ichiro thought, but of course he couldn't say that. And yet he also needed an excuse quickly. "Because… I think I might have a cold coming on," he said, faking a cough, "So I don't wanna get germs on him."

"Ohhh, okie!" Honey replied, "What's your club gonna be for? Is it gonna be a cake club?"

"Is that all you ever think about?" Ichiro asked with a chuckle that was, to his surprise, entirely genuine.

"Nope! I think about Usa-chan and Takashi lots. I have lotsa cute plushies at home that I think about too."

'You mean there're more?' Ichiro thought dryly. "But Usa-chan's the cutest?"

"Yup! Do you wanna borrow one of the others if you get sick? They make me feel better!"

"No thanks, I handle anything," Ichiro replied confidently.

"Okie dokie."

"There you are Honey-senpai," came another voice Ichiro recognized, just as Haruhi appeared at the end of the hall.

"Haru-chan!" Honey cried happily.

"Mori-senpai sent me."

"Oh! Home time! I hafta go Ichiro-kun, bye!" Honey said, briefly patting Ichiro's head before running off.

"And what're you up to?" Haruhi asked, with a tone that was somewhere between curious and accusing.

"I'm trying to get to the drama room I have reserved for the Kaneko Club," Ichiro explained quickly. "Was Host Club cancelled for today?" he asked, noticing the time on his scanner.

"Yeah, Kyoya-senpai and Tamaki-senpai were both needed at home."

"I guess it's nice for you to get a break," Ichiro replied.

He rounded a corner, as he spoke and ran headlong into a body coming the opposite way, sending both to the floor. 'Embarrassing,' Ichiro thought, but his face lit up, though he wasn't aware of it, when he saw that the one he'd run into was Keiko. "Keiko!" he cried, "You should watch where you're going," he added softly.

"I'm sorry," she replied, and was about to add more when she saw Haruhi and immediately clammed up.

Ichiro helped her to her feet and she smiled appreciatively. "Ichiro, what's this?" Haruhi asked.

She was holding a small photograph depicting what appeared to be a slightly younger Ichiro, appearing to be about nine and wearing a school uniform consisting of a black blazer, white shirt, and blue plaid shorts. Ichiro felt a pit in his stomach when he saw the picture; nobody was ever supposed to see it except him. "Give me that!" he snapped angrily, snatching the photo up and shoving it deep into his pocket.

'It must've already been loose when I ran into Keiko,' he thought while Haruhi stepped back in shock of his sudden temper flare. "And it's none of your damn business," Ichiro continued, pocketing the photo.

"I was only trying to help," Haruhi defended, her own voice beginning to rise.

"By 'help' you mean 'snoop'? Because that's what I'm seeing! If you wanted to help then you could've just pointed to it! Or did nobody ever teach you manners?"

"Look! I was only trying to help, if I'd have known you were going to be a jerk like this I wouldn't have bothered! You talk down about the Host Club, but they wouldn't behave like this after someone just tried to be nice!"

"Don't even begin to compare me to those arrogant, idiotic spoiled brats," retorted Ichiro furiously.

"Enough!" shouted a voice that neither of them expected; it was Keiko.

Immediately she looked like she would rather the ground swallow her up, but she tried to press on anyways. "You're both being jerks by fighting," she said, "So just stop, please."

For some reason Ichiro felt like her words lanced through his heart like a hot poker. It instantly doused his temper, and he sighed out an apology to Haruhi who did the same. Feeling oddly drained he collapsed to floor, leaning against the wall. 'I suppose it wouldn't matter if I told them,' he thought, looking around the hall to make sure nobody else was around. 'After all Keiko isn't about to spill a secret, and Haruhi's trustworthy.'

"Alright," Ichiro muttered, getting out the photo again, "Come and sit, I'll tell you about this."

"That's not necessary," Haruhi protested.

"I want to," Ichiro replied, once again surprised that he genuinely wanted this.

Without any further protest Haruhi sat down next to him as well and looked at the photo. Ichiro's younger self was smiling cheerily, and it had been a true smile. Ichiro was born into the Society, the 'most successful meta-human child to date' and he'd been raised in their regimented world. It was the perfect society, Ichiro knew that. When the picture was taken he wasn't yet taking the aging inhibitors, but he was already heavily trained in fighting and thinking. It was a matter now of deciding how much to actually tell the two girls with him. "This picture was taken when I was ten," he began, "I'd only ever had personal education up until then. My dad paid for tutors galore, and I was studying since I could talk. By the time I was ten he said I could likely qualify for any college if I so much as tried.

"To drive home the point of how superior I supposedly was to 'common children' he enrolled me in elementary school for a week. He would come pick me up each day after school too. It was the most time I ever spent with my father, and the only time I've ever been allowed to call him 'dad'. That was the happiest week of my life. So I had this photo taken to remind me of it. Mitsukuni has his rabbit as his most precious possession, I have this photo."

He waited for a moment while the story sank in. It was mostly true. He'd edited the details a little; of course he wasn't taught by tutors, he was taught by instructors with other children his age. The purpose for being in elementary school was partly to show the superiority of the Society's methods, and also to give the Society children an understanding of common society so that they could better blend into it. Everything else he'd said though was true. Ichiro was a warrior, a spy and an assassin, and the Society was the perfect society, but he'd always wished that his father would be someone other than just his boss.

"Ichiro," Keiko muttered sadly, surprising him by leaning over and hugging him.

That was a sensation he'd never felt before either. As far as he was told 'hugging' was an unnecessary expression of affection. It didn't need to exist, but perhaps due to tiredness, he actually found it somewhat enjoyable.

"Ichiro… I'm not sure what to say," Haruhi said.

"You don't have to say anything. You wanted to know what the photo was; now you know. I keep it to remind me of the happiest week of my life," said Ichiro with a shrug.

Even if happiness was unnecessary, he'd known that the unnecessary was sometimes enjoyable. Happiness was one of those things. After all, Ichiro reasoned, he was the perfect human being, so if he secretly indulged a little then it was fine. It never interfered with his missions or tasks, so it was fine. "Are you not happy now?" Haruhi asked.

"No, it's just never been the same as that week. It's no big deal really, intelligence is more important that happiness," said Ichiro, paraphrasing a portion of the Society's motto.

"I didn't know," Haruhi muttered in awe, barely hiding a note of pity in her voice.

"Of course not, but it's not a huge deal. So just forget about it, and don't you dare tell anyone; not Tamaki, not Mitsukuni, not even Ryoji," Ichiro added firmly, "This is a secret between the three of us."

"Yes of course," Haruhi replied.

"Good. Now I think it's about time you start heading for home, or I'll end up having to give you a drive again."

"Oh crap you're right!" exclaimed Haruhi, jumping to her feet, "See you Ichiro, see you, um, Keiko was it?"

"Yes," Keiko replied quietly while she and Ichiro got to their feet as well.

"See you," Ichiro replied, "And Keiko, would you like to come help me finally look over the drama room?"

Keiko nodded and the two made their way to the room in question. It was a pretty simple room; large, plain and carpeted. The existence of a drama program at Ouran was solely because of the children of famous actors who attended Ouran. As such it wasn't popular with corporate types like Kyoya or the Hitachiins, and Ichiro had no particular interest in it due to his feeling that it was a poorly constructed program. But the room itself served his purposes, and that was helpful, not to mention the lack of popularity of the program meant that this drama room was unused. Access to the costume room was helpful too, and he intended to add to it significantly.

"What kind of tables should we have?" asked Ichiro to Keiko, "And how many?"

"Oh! I… uh," Keiko stammered.

"Just plan large. This room probably has a capacity of about thirty people, so maybe ten small tables?" muttered Ichiro, moving to stand in a corner to take a picture of the room. 'And it'll give the Society a true foot inside Ouran.'

"Ichiro-san," Keiko said, "You mentioned your father in that story… but what about your mother."

"I don't have one," replied Ichiro distractedly, taking more pictures of the room from each of its corners.

"Huh?"

"I don't have a mom."

"I don't understand."

"Then don't keep asking," replied Ichiro, finishing his pictures and moving to the center of the room to begin scanning it.

Keiko stayed quiet, leaning against the wall and watching him. Everything about him she found cute, even when he was being grumpy like this. She could never say anything like that to him though. He was small, but powerful, and he'd saved her, and she really wanted to repay him. There wasn't any way to do that though, so she just stayed quiet while he did his thing.

"Any idea for what our opening theme should be?" Ichiro asked.

"Um… no, sorry. Why are we doing a cosplay club?"

"Simple; school is hard and this will give them a place to relax. Mitsukuni told me that the Host Club did a Balinese thing a couple weeks back, a couple days after the riot foam thing. I think Kyoya felt the need to do something extra saucy to make up for lost time," said Ichiro. "What do you think? Think we could give something like that a try? Maybe go Hawaiian luau instead."

"What do you mean Hawaiian?" asked Keiko shyly, already having a good idea.

"Grass skirts, coconut bras, tiki stuff and so on," said Ichiro simply, "Let's see it's Tuesday, and I should be able to get all that stuff here by Thursday."

"That quickly?"

"Never underestimate me," said Ichiro with a wink, "Anyways, I got the data I need so we can go."

Keiko blushed slightly and followed him out to the school's entrance where her chauffeur was waiting, apparently she'd called ahead to let them know she was going to be out late. Ichiro didn't have his own driver pick him up quite yet. He'd figured he'd take a walk around the Ouran campus and see if he could find anyone coming out of clubs who he might be able to use. He'd noticed a sad looking boy coming from the elementary school the day before, and sure enough he was coming out of the school late again. He had combed brown hair with notable bangs and grey-blue eyes and was wearing the standard green Ouran Elementary School uniform. "Shiro," Ichiro read from his scanner, "Let's see how this goes."

He approached Shiro as he waited for his chauffeur to arrive. "Hey there," said Ichiro amiably.

"Who are you?" asked Shiro, looking him up and down.

"Ichiro Kaneko, first year at Ouran High School," said Ichiro, "And you?"

"Are you sure you're in high school?" asked Shiro.

"What?"

"You look like a sixth grader."

"My growth is a bit stunted."

"Whatever, what do you want?"

"Your name at the moment," said Ichiro.

"Shiro Takaoji, fifth grader. Now leave me alone."

"You're upset about something," Ichiro said, ignoring the request, "And it's not me."

"No it's definitely you."

"I don't think so," said Ichiro, "You were already looking down before I came over. And you're sad, not angry."

"You're wrong," protested Shiro, but clearly lying.

"I'm not, and you know I'm not," said Ichiro, sitting down beside the younger boy.

Ichiro gently, but firmly, took hold of Shiro's chin and turned his face towards him. For a good minute and a half Ichiro stared into the kid's face while Shiro was looking more and more uncomfortable. "Uh… senpai," he muttered, "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Appraising you," replied Ichiro, "You're not just sad, you're worried. There're bags under your eyes, meaning you're not sleeping as much, and there're a couple stress lines."

"Alright! I'll tell you my problem if you just let go of me!" cried Shiro.

"Deal," said Ichiro, letting him go.

"Not that it's any of your business, but… well there's a girl I'm friends with and she's moving away to Europe soon."

"And you want to do something for her before she leaves," said Ichiro.

"Stop that! If you want me to tell you, then let me talk," Shiro protested.

"Then proceed."

"Yeah I want to do something for her. I want to make her smile."

"Does she not usually smile?"

"She does, but I wanna do something to make her smile. So I've been learning piano, but I'm not sure I'll learn in time to play for her."

"You want to make a girl smile hm?" muttered Ichiro, "Have you ever heard of the Ouran Host Club?"

"No, not really," replied Shiro.

"They're a club in the high school who focus entirely on making girls happy. If all else fails you could always ask to apprentice to Tamaki Suoh," explained Ichiro, "It's worth a shot don't you think."

A limousine arrived and Shiro got to his feet and hurried in as a man, his butler supposedly, opened the door. "I'd have to be desperate to go to a bunch of stupid high schoolers for help," snapped Shiro as he sat down, "Thanks for nothing blondie."

Shiro's butler closed the car door and briefly apologized for his master's comments before getting behind the wheel and driving off. 'Snap at me all you want kid,' thought Ichiro, 'You _are_ desperate, so you will go to them, and I can't imagine the fun they'll have with a big-mouthed ten year old hanging around.'

As Ichiro walked back towards the high school he momentarily spied a boy the same age as Shiro, and judging by his uniform also a student, who'd been watching him the entire time he'd been here. Ichiro knew how to keep his movements subtle, and he noticed that, for a fraction of a second, the boy's eyes seemed to blink red. It was just as subtle, but he saw it. He simply made a note of it as he headed for home, feeling that things at the Ouran campus might just be starting to get interesting.


	10. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Ichiro was woken earlier than usual by a servant, standing safely outside his room, telling him that there was a call from Shadow Lord Acheron. Immediately Ichiro hurried to don his robes and get to the video room. He arrived still straightening his hood and saw the cloaked form of Lord Acheron on the monitor. "I am here Shadow Lord," Ichiro said, "What is the matter?"

Calls were strictly scheduled amongst the Society, even for special agents. If a call was made outside of schedule, then it meant that the news was extremely important. "We have important information on the Order of Steel, and it could not wait until the scheduled call."

"I understand Lord Acheron," replied Ichiro.

"Your meetings with the Order of Steel members have been sparse, as have ours and those of other agents. What we have learned, however, is that all of them appear to exhibit cybernetic augmentation, and often outright replacement of organic tissue. This would appear to be how they are able to fight on the same levels as our strongest warriors."

"So using cybernetic augmentation instead of genetic modification," muttered Ichiro.

"Correct. Use caution when facing them Legate, no matter how strong your fists are they will not be able to break the titanium alloys used in these cybernetics. However the urgency of this transmission is not information on the Order of Steel, it is to report that we believe one of their members is stationed within the Ouran campus. We felt it best to alert you to this information before you headed out for today."

"I understand Lord Acheron."

"Then that will be all. Keep an eye out for their agent, and continue to proceed as before. Ending transmission."

The screen went black and Ichiro sighed as he swept out of the room. Too much was happening. Usually he could handle it, but the troublesome emotions he was experiencing were far too much. On the other hand, searching for the Order of Steel's agent would give him something to do and keep him focused. "Akeno, Emiko, Hana, Chiharu, Keiko and Haruhi," Ichiro muttered to himself as he got dressed in his school uniform. "I can't explain it, but you're the only people outside of the Society whom I've ever been even remotely fond of. And I want to protect you. I won't let this Order of Steel agent hurt you."

About an hour and a half later Ichiro took his seat in English, and settled into boredom. It didn't last long though as he was quite surprised to hear their teacher announce a new student joining them. It was a rather irregular procedure; it was rare for a new student to join classes at Ouran mid-semester, but if enough money was paid it'd happen. "Class," the teacher began, not sounding used to doing this in the slightest, "He's a bit younger than the rest of you, but incredibly intelligent for his age. You may come in now Toshi."

The door opened and in walked a boy with short, dark, slightly messy hair and brown eyes, and dressed in a small version of the Ouran High School uniform. He truly wasn't very old, looking to be around ten, and with a cute face that befitted his age. Ichiro was surprised, however, because he was sure he'd seen this boy before. "Hello everyone, I am Toshiharu Iwata. I was transferred in from the elementary school," the boy said quickly and formally, "May I please sit next to the bored looking blond boy?"

Ichiro paid so little attention to his class that he wasn't even aware there was an empty desk next to him. But the teacher approved the request and he saw Toshi walk towards him. Just as Toshi moved to sit down he whispered, directly to Ichiro, "Nice to see you again Legate."

Immediately Ichiro perked up and looked around to see Toshi sitting at his desk, looking completely innocent and sweet. However there was a definite edge to him, and the fact he knew Ichiro's codename was troubling. 'Looks like I've found the Order of Steel's operative,' thought Ichiro, resolving to keep an eye on him.

In fact Ichiro was hoping to get a chance to confront him between classes, but as soon as he stepped into the hall he found himself confronted by the Hitachiins. Meanwhile Toshi, who'd left the class ahead of him, was already down the hallway. "Hey there Ichiro," both of them said together.

"Not now," complained Ichiro, "Leave me alone."

"Aww, we just wanted to chat," said Kaoru.

"Yeah, we haven't talked to each other for a long time," said Hikaru.

"Wanna play our new game?"

"It's called Guess Where the Caramel Is."

"Pick it right and you get a caramel, pick it wrong and you get a surprise," explained Kaoru cheerily.

"Damn it I don't have time for this today," replied Ichiro angrily, and swiftly stepped around them to chase after Toshi.

"I guess not all shotas love sweets," the twins muttered to each other with a shrug.

Ichiro hurried ahead to try and catch up with Toshi, and found him heading into his next class. "Wait!" he called.

Toshi paused and turned to him, sporting a sweet, childish smile. "Oh hey! You're Ichiro-senpai right?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right," said Ichiro, before lowering his voice and asking "How do you know?"

"If you wanna talk, can we do it later please senpai?" Toshi said, and adding with his own voice lowered, "If either of us blow our covers here we'll all be in hot water."

"Right," said Ichiro, shifting back to his original tone of voice, "Meet me in Drama Room Four. See ya later!"

Ichiro split off from Toshi and went to his own classes, trying to keep his focus on meeting with Toshi later. Even as he sat down to lunch he kept it in mind; though the arrival of the girls largely ended up distracting him. "So Ichiro," Emiko began as they sat down, "Any news about our club? Keiko told me we're doing a Hawaiian theme the first day."

"Yeah we are," replied Ichiro, pausing to kiss Hana as she sat down, "I'm having the stuff I need for it brought in today, and we'll set up some of it today and some tomorrow. I know you hate dresses Emiko, but I hope you won't mind grass skirts."

"I think I can handle that, as long as the guys wear them too."

"We will, don't worry."

"I've never been to a cosplay party," Akeno said, "Or any party for that matter, I'm rather excited."

"You've never been to a party?" asked Ichiro with surprise.

"No," replied Akeno sadly, "Nobody bothers to think of inviting the nerdy girl. 'All she cares about is school and thinking she's smarter than everyone, that's why she doesn't have any friends'," she added, clearly quoting someone.

"That's terrible," said Chiharu.

"It's not the worst part," Akeno continued, "The worst part was in middle school when I someone did invite me, only for me to show up and get corn syrup and flour dumped on. Turns out they just invited me as a joke. I guess I just got used to it after that."

"What jerks," said Emiko, "Pranks are great, but using them to hurt people is just low."

"As I said, I've gotten used to it."

"Well you can stop being used to it, because you'll be at a party tomorrow," Chiharu said, "And you have friends, including cute little Ichiro there who brought us all together."

Akeno giggled, "Yes you're right," she said, "Thanks Ichiro, you've made high school so much more enjoyable than anything previously."

"You're welcome," Ichiro replied, feeling extremely surprised by the sentiment, and another emotion that he couldn't explain.

But before he had time to analyze the emotion, he was surprised to see Haruhi approaching them. "Um, would you mind if I sat with you guys?" she asked, "Things were getting a little… uncomfortable with the Host Club."

"Tamaki and the twins imagining you in skimpy clothing?" Ichiro asked.

"Something like that."

"Sure go ahead."

"Is there something between you and that new kid?" Haruhi asked bluntly after a couple minutes.

"What new kid?" Akeno asked.

"Oh right, there's this boy named Toshiharu who transferred from the elementary school," explained Ichiro quickly, "He's only ten, but extremely smart."

"He couldn't be as smart as you Ichiro-chan," said Hana, caressing his face gently and holding him tenderly, "Or half as cute."

"You're so sweet Hana-senpai," Ichiro replied in an equally tender tone, "And so sexy."

"Ichiro-chan, we only say that when we're alone," Hana replied softly.

"Alright you two, settle down," Emiko said with irritation, and then added for Haruhi, "That's a little routine they do, you can decide for yourself how much is real and how much is acted."

"It's all part of the fun, dear," Hana said simply.

"Why do I feel like I'm still at the Host Club table?" Haruhi said sarcastically.

"Calm down Haruhi, I'm just having a bit of fun," said Ichiro, "I will confirm that _some_ of it is genuine."

"Right, so anyways, Toshi, do you two know each other or something? I saw him whisper to you, and then after class you ran after him."

"Demonstrating, as always, how you got into Ouran," Ichiro mused, "No wonder you and Akeno got along so well."

"Just answer my question," replied Haruhi, looking flattered nonetheless.

"I was getting there. The answer is no. He whispered something to me and I was just curious as to what he meant. I barely got time to talk to him thanks to those stupid Hitachiins."

"You know they only pick on you because you get angry right?" Haruhi said, "They like getting a reaction, and you give them one every single time."

"I know that, but it's harder to stay calm than you think," replied Ichiro.

"Believe me I know, I'm still working on it myself, but you have to try or they'll keep coming back for more."

"I'll try to remember that."

From there the discussion shifted into more random or uneventful things, then lunch break was over and Ichiro's thoughts returned to Toshi and the upcoming meeting with him. It couldn't be violent, and it couldn't be any more than them talking. He doubted Toshi would become violent, as he said neither of them could risk blowing their covers so callously, but he had a simple plan just to be certain.

Of course once classes ended for the day and Ichiro made his way towards the drama room he was first ambushed by none other than Mitsukuni Haninozuka. "Ichiro-kun!" cried the older boy cheerily, jumping on him as usual.

'Oh son of a-' though Ichiro bitterly. "Hey Mitsukuni!" he replied back while Honey fell into stride beside him. "I'm goin' to meet with this new kid. He's this really smart ten-year old who got transferred into the high school."

"Woah! Is he as cute as you? Oh, oh! Does he like cake!?"

"I dunno, but I'll make sure to ask him."

"Okie! You know what? We still never get to spend time with each other."

"I know you got sick a few weeks ago and I've been busy making my club. Hey! You could come join the track and field day the town's holding. We'll join as a team."

"Sure! Then we can have a slumber party at my house! Oh, I need to get back to the music room. See ya later Ichiro-kun!"

Honey ran off and left Ichiro slowly realizing what he'd just agreed to do. He'd been playing his persona, and somehow he'd ended up offering, and agreeing, to spending a whole day with Honey on the weekend. 'I guess I got a bit carried away,' he thought, 'It's fine though, Takashi won't let him spend that much time with me… except I threatened him into silence.'

Ichiro sighed as he realized he was pretty much bound to this obligation now. The odd thing was, though, there was a small part of him that felt like he _wanted_ to do this. Plus, he figured, it couldn't hurt to get a really good view of the Haninozuka house. For now, however, he hurried on to the drama room.

He arrived to find that, thankfully, Toshi wasn't yet there. Even better he saw the boxes of decorations and such were present and waiting to be set up. His meeting with Toshi came first though, and he put his simple plan to keep the meeting peaceful into action. His plan was, quite simply, to remove his clothes down to his underwear to prove he wasn't hiding any weaponry.

When Toshi arrived his eyes widened when he saw Ichiro standing in the room in nothing but his boxers. "Did you want to talk, or did you want to seduce me?" asked Toshi cheekily.

"You're a cyborg, and you're ten," replied Ichiro.

"You'd be surprised what my cybernetics are capable of."

"The point of this is to prove that I'm not hiding any weapons, because I want to keep this peaceful. As you said, neither of us can afford to give away our secrets. So if you would respond in kind."

Toshi shrugged and stripped down as well. Ichiro was surprised to see no obvious cybernetics. Toshi was athletic and leanly muscled, much like himself, but he'd been expecting a robotic arm or at least some kind of a sign of cybernetics. But he looked like an ordinary ten-year old, well, toned for his age, but not inorganic. When Ichiro tried to scan him though he found his scanner was running into interference. "That won't work Legate," Toshi said, "What use would our cybernetics be if they couldn't block your paltry technology?"

"Our technology is the most advanced on the planet," Ichiro protested.

"You can just keep thinking that senpai," replied Toshi, patting him on the back.

"So I believe it's safe to conclude that you're an operative for the Order of Steel," said Ichiro.

"That's correct. I am Grand General of the Order of Steel, a rank rather equivalent to Legate. And as you clearly know, I am a cyborg. I assume you've also been wondering why you cannot see my cybernetics… but where would the fun be if I told you that?"

"Are you really ten?" asked Ichiro simply.

"I suppose I can answer that; yes I am. We Order members need not go through the same pointless training as you to achieve perfection. As it stands I am greater than you," explained Toshi, standing near Ichiro, "Observe."

To prove his point, Toshi swiftly reached out and grabbed Ichiro by the waist, and the young assassin found himself hoisted into the air, and held over the younger boy's head. "You see senpai?" he said, "This is true perfection. And when I deem the time to be right, the Order will sweep take all these brilliant and well-connected minds and upgrade them to true perfection. Who knows, perhaps when that time comes I'll let you join us."

Ichiro struggled and strained, but to no avail. The strength of robotically enhanced limbs was simply too great for him to escape. And before he knew it he was thrown to the floor, with Toshi kneeling over him. "You see? All this stripping down plan did was give me a good look at you almost nude, though I appreciate the sentiment as I would not want to kill you. One thing the Society does do well is make extremely attractive agents."

Once again punctuating his point, and apparently proving his power, Toshi forcefully kissed Ichiro on the lips. It lasted a long time too, like Toshi was enjoying it, but all the time Ichiro was wondering why he was being so erotic. According to the information he'd been forwarded about the Order, their cyborgs should've been merciless and driven. He thought Toshi might be teasing him, as he'd teased Mori, but this behaviour seemed more genuine. "Why are you being so sexual?" Ichiro asked when Toshi at last pulled back.

"It's cute how you Society fools think you're so smart and end up sounding so stupid," said Toshi, "All of us go through a calibration period after our cybernetics are added or changed. During this period our brains adapt to the new programs and flush all unnecessary chemicals. Right now I have hormones being processed for elimination, but the first phase of that is a massive surge of them that can last for several days. The truth is I wasn't supposed to become active until my calibration was finished, but I guess I was too eager."

Toshi kissed him again and continued to act erotically, and Ichiro wasn't sure how far this would go. And if it wasn't for the fact that Toshi was a megalomaniacal wacko, Ichiro might have somewhat enjoyed what was going on. Not to mention they were in the middle of Ouran and it was entirely possible for someone to unlock the drama room doors. He was also sure that Toshi had some ulterior motive for behaving this way towards him specifically, perhaps to create some stratagem against him.

"Toshi," Ichiro said when the boy pulled back next, "Did you hear someone at the doors? They can be unlocked."

Toshi took a moment to consider this, and in that moment Ichiro drove his scanner, the one gadget he'd kept on himself, into the younger boy's side and sending a pulse of electricity through him. He didn't seem to expect this either and shook for a moment as the electricity coursed through him, and Ichiro took that moment to pull himself away. "I think our business is concluded for today," Ichiro said, heading over to his clothes where he proceeded to begin pulling on his pants.

"Yes… I believe you are correct. Well played Legate, well played," replied Toshi, getting dressed as well. "Next time we meet in this manner I will not be distracted by these troublesome chemicals."

"However I propose a truce for now. Neither of us can afford to attract attention, and our operations must remain subtle. Therefore until such time as we can become bolder, neither of us will directly act against the other," said Ichiro, buttoning his blazer, "But should it suit our purposes to stymie the efforts of the other, then we may do so, as long as it is not through our direct intervention."

"So you want us to play chess with the school," Toshi summarized, "Very well, I accept your proposal. Shall we shake?"

Ichiro agreed and shook the younger boy's hand. "Let the games begin," he said, with Toshi echoing him

"Now I should," Toshi began, before coughing and going back into his public persona, "Sorry for pestering you so long senpai! I'll let you get to setting up your club for tomorrow."

And with that Toshi slipped out of the doors while Ichiro began opening the boxes and setting up for tomorrow, and it wasn't long before the girls arrived to join him.


End file.
